Habits Die Hard
by Crystal Manning
Summary: -Sequel to Scars Never Fade- Things get chaotic when the rest of Mack's family move to DC. She becomes secretive again which worries her family and her friends. Did she go back to her old ways or is it something else? NewtxOC JasonxOC CoryxMeena -Discontinued-
1. Runaway

**Chapter One-Runaway**

"Hello?" Cory asked as he picked up the phone to the Baxter Residence. "No, she's not here…I don't know where she is…yes, I'll call you…all right, bye." He hung up the phone and returned to the kitchen and said, "You know I can't keep lying to her."

"I know, but you can't tell her that she's staying at my place, she'd flip," Newt responded as Cory sat down.

"You must really care about her a lot," Cory said as he stared at Newt in surprise. He's never seen Newt so serious about anything, except for the guitar and their band.

"I do," he agreed with a nod. "Which is why her mom can't know that she's staying over. You know how her mom reacts around us, she hates us. She would hates us even more if she found out what I was doing. Look, I just can't let her stay there. Not with them having a bad relationship, it might drive her to cutting again."

"Good point…"

"So will you help me, dude?"

"Of course, what're friends for?"

"Sweet!" They turned their attention to Mack who was leaning against the doorway. A sad look was on her face as she shifted her weight from foot to foot.

"I didn't mean to be a problem for you guys," Mack said as she walked into the kitchen.

"You're not," Newt said as he stood and pulled her into a hug. "I want to do this for you. I want to make sure you're ok."

"Yeah, don't worry about it. We got your back," Cory added as he also stood and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Mack smiled at them. About two months ago she wouldn't think that she would be interacting with them at all. But they pushed and shoved their way into her life by caring about her that she couldn't just turn them away.

About two months ago Mack moved to DC with her mother, Melanie, because of a cutting problem her mother thought would go away if they moved. While she was there she met and became fast friends with Rebel Samuels. Then she formed a weird friendship with Jason Stickler. She ended up being friends with Cory Baxter, Meena Paroom, and Newt Livingston because, once Meena stopped hating her, they all pried their way into her life. Eventually Newt's care towards her won her over and she ended up falling for him, although she frequently denied it when Rebel teased her about it. She finally realized how much she cared about him and how much he cared about her when she was sent to the hospital for loosing too much blood and was in a coma and he stayed by her side the entire time.

"Do you want anything while you're here?" Cory asked.

"Nah, I'm good," Mack responded as she shook her head.

"My parents are probably wondering where we are anyway," Newt said as he looked at his watch.

"All right. Band practice tomorrow at your place," Cory said as they bumped fists before Newt lead her out of the door. Once the door closed he rushed over to his cell phone and pushed a button on his speed dial.

Over at the Paroom residence Meena rushed out of her bathroom and landed on her bed, bouncing a couple of seconds, before grabbing her ringing phone. "Meena here."

"Hey Meena, it's Cory," he said as he walked into the living room and sat down on the couch.

"Hey Cory, what's up?"

"Mack's mom keeps calling here. I can't keep lying to her. She's going to find out where Mack is eventually. And that'll just make things worse."

"I know, she keeps calling here too. All I told her was that Mack was safe so she shouldn't be too frantic about the whole thing," Meena responded as a concerned look crossed her face. "Actually, I'm more worried about Newt."

"Newt?" Cory repeated. "Why?"

"Because he doesn't realize how much trouble he could get in by hiding Mack at his place." Meena sighed and added, "I'm also worried because he really likes her and he knows she likes him but he can't even ask her to be his official girlfriend, I mean, they aren't officially going out yet."

"I see what you mean." Cory stayed silent before he snapped his fingers. "I got it! We can set them up!"

"Don't you think they'd realize we're setting them up?" Meena asked in confusion.

"No, because this plan is foolproof."

"Yeah, just like all of your other plans," Meena agreed with a giggle. Cory couldn't keep the smile from forming on his face. He loved to listen to listen to her laugh or just listen to her talk. He loved to see the sparkle in her eyes when she's excited about something or when she has a good idea. Just being around her makes his day a whole lot better. He sighed softly to himself. There was no way that Meena would ever like him like that, that's what he always thought so he never bothered to try and tell her his feelings for her. She only seems him as a friend, nothing more, but nothing less. "Cory? Are you still there?"

"Yeah…I'm just listening to your voice," he responded in a dreamy-like voice. His eyes flew open as he added, "Because…it sounds…different on the phone! Yeah, kinda like Darth Vader. All raspy…that's not what I meant! I mean…I gotta go, bye!" Cory quickly hung up the phone, stared at it, and groaned inwardly as he covered his face with his hands.

------------

"So you'll be staying in here," Newt said as he opened the door to the guest room. "The remote works for the tv, fan, and stereo. But you don't want to play it too loudly or my parents would yell at you…and they can yell louder than any music you play off of that. Trust me." He paused and added, "I hope this is all right for you."

"It's fine Newt, thanks," Mack said as she walked over to the bed and put her backpack down on it. "You really didn't have to do this for me."

"I said it before, I wanted to. I couldn't just leave you and your mom to kill each other," Newt said as he shook his head. "Everyone would miss you…especially me." A blush formed on Mack's cheeks as she avoided his gaze but walked over and hugged him. "Goodnight," he said before he leaned towards her. She quickly turned her head so he kissed her cheek. A confused look was in his eyes but he smiled a little before closing the door to her room.

"Goodnight Newt," Mack muttered before she climbed into her bed and fell into a light sleep.


	2. What Do You Know?

**Chapter 2: What Do You Know?**

Rebel Samuels walked down the hallway of Washington Prepatory School in a rush. She pushed her straight blonde hair out of her eyes as she attempted to find her boyfriend, Jason Stickler.

She turned a corner and smacked into someone. "Oh God," Rebel said, putting her hand to her forehead and then looking at the person that she had hit. It was a guy who looked only a few inches taller than her with dark black hair and green eyes.

"I'm so sorry" she said. The guy held out his hand as he stood up to help her up.

Rebel placed her hands on her hips as she stared at the boy. "Don't I know you from somewhere?" she asked.

The guy stared at her, narrowing his bright green eyes. He then nodded, "Aren't you friends with my sister?"

"Who's your sister?" she asked.

"Mackenzie Montgomery," he replied.

Rebel's eyes widened as a smile appeared on her face, "Yeah, I met you at the hospital, I'm…"

"Don't tell me, because I know it has something to do with the Civil War. Lee, maybe?" he guessed, uncertainty filling his voice.

Rebel shook her head and laughed, "Try Rebel for a change."

He smiled and nodded. There was a brief silence before Rebel smiled half-heartedly and said, "I have to go find Jason, that guy I was with in the hospital and like, I don't know, talk."

Rebel began to walk off when she heard feet following behind her. She whipped around, searching for the cause of the noise. "I'm Matt by the way," the guy from before said.

"Good to know," Rebel said, turning back around and rolling her eyes.

"I was wondering if you knew something about my sister, Mack," He added as he ran after her.

"Uh, duh, I'm her best friend. But it depends, what do you want to know?" she asked as she continued walking, scanning the halls.

"Where is she at right now? Like, where is she staying that she can't tell my mom? What happened to her that made her cut again? And what's up with the Livingston dude?" He asked all in one breath.

"That's confidential. A combination of me, Newt, her mom and Jason. And he's her boyfriend," she paused after stating her answer just as Matt had asked the question to add the final element, a sharp, crisp, "Duh!"

"Why is this confidential?" he said, making air quotes around confidential.

"Because she told me not to tell anyone, and I'm not going to, that's why it's confidential." She put air quotes around confidential as well. "Look!" she gasped in aggravation, "It's not your business, but yet it is, but dude, give it up, you aren't getting anything out of me!"

Matt stood there, speechless before saying, "Some friend you are! I bet you like screw that Livingston dude behind her back as well, because I can't get anything from either of you."

Rebel's eyes widened as she stepped up in Matt's face, "Oh no you didn't, I know you didn't go there you gothic, skateboarding freak, and yes, I went there because I can."

Rebel did her head roll, snapped her fingers in Matt's face and walked away in a huff. She stopped in her tracks and turned back around and yelled down the hallway, "And I have a man already, he has a tazer and isn't afraid to use it, ooh, to the face!"

Just as she watched Matt get a fearful expression on his face, she felt someone tapping on her shoulder. She turned around to see Jason standing behind her.

"Hey Jase," she smiled nervously.

"You know what," he said, "Normally, I'd ask, but I'm not even going there right now."

"I wouldn't either," she responded.

"And FYI," he said, as he slipped his arm around her waist, "I only carry the tazer on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and today is Tuesday, its Mace day."

Rebel scooted out of his grip and put both of her hands up in defense, "You just keep that to yourself and we'll be okay, got it?"

Jason nodded and then stared at her blankly. Rebel rolled her eyes and took his hand in hers, "Come on"

They walked to the quad and Rebel sat her messenger bag on the ground and positioned herself where she was sitting on the stone table. Suddenly a roar of an engine from overhead was heard. Rebel stared up at the sky and then proceeded to yell, "Hurricane Newton has arrived."

A few moments later, the blonde boy climbed down the rope ladder and stared back up at the sky as someone else climbed down. When the helicopter was gone Rebel ran up to Newt and Mack with Jason slowly coming up behind her.

"Hey guys" she said.

"'Sup dudette!" Newt said, coming over to Rebel and doing their oh-so-complicated new secret handshake consisting of them slapping their hands against each other, bumping fists, and then hitting the sides of their Converse against each other.

"Did I mention how weird this new friendship of yours is?" Mack asked with a freaked out look on her face.

"Yeah," Jason walked forward, shooting Newt a glare and slipping his arm around Rebel, "You have," he pulled out his iPhone and checked something and then said, "218 times"

"How did you?..." Rebel began

"It's a CIA iPhone, very unlike the original." Jason interrupted.

"Why don't I….?" Rebel started.

"Your junior CIA, I got this extra from my father." Jason interrupted again.

Rebel angrily crossed her arms over her chest and then pulled out her Razor and stared into the pink cheetah faceplate, cutting it on and then checking her text inbox as they continued into the building as the first bell rang.

They walked in silence, except for Newt who went on about how he finally realized that a taxidermist didn't do taxes and that it involved the stuffing of as Rebel called it, "Dead things."

As the bell rang, they all separated, having different classes. Rebel went into her Pre Algebra class and took her assigned seat.

She was coloring another outline around one of the many hearts on her binder with "R.S. hearts J.S." in it, when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

Rebel looked over at the person who tapped her. She groaned with disgust at the sight. It was Matt again.

"What do you want now? Dang!" she said

Matt shrugged, "Seriously, I want to know about my sister."

"What are you, your mom's spy or something? And are you even in this class, like I've never seen you before?" she asked.

"No, this is out of a common care for my twin."

Rebel flashed him her "whatever" symbol with her hands and rolled her eyes.

Matt made a face and then asked, "How much do you know about Newt Livingston."

_'Much more than you know.'_ She thought, _'Much, much more.'_

"Not much" she lied, "We just became friends and before then, I didn't talk to him much," she lied once more.

"Okay," Matt said. Rebel could tell by the tone of voice he was using he didn't believe her. After all, five years of Junior CIA training made her pretty keen at such.

As the bell rang again and the teacher began to stand up Matt and Rebel stopped talking. Throughout the class period, Matt kept glancing over at Rebel. Rebel met his glance once and shot him a glare. She put her book up like a fortress around her, pulled out her pink Razor phone and texted Jason.

"We might have a case on R hands. Tell U L8R." it read. She then pressed send and put her phone away. She lowered her book and glanced back at the boy who had just made her life a lot harder.


	3. Something I Call Personality

**A/N: Sorry. It's been so long since I updated this, but it's only because my school has kept me really busy with homework. Well, tomorrow is my last exam and then I'm on Christmas Break. The chapters should be up a little bit faster since I will have a lot of free time on my hands. Hope you like this chapter!**

**Chapter Three-Something I Call Personality**

"So my brother practically stalked you just so you would tell him where I was?" Mack asked after school. She and Rebel were sitting on the couch at Rebel's place while her mother, Mrs. Samuels, was out helping the President. "That's so like him."

"Apparently he doesn't like Newt either," Rebel added as they put their feet up on the coffee table.

"Which doesn't surprise me either." Mack rolled her eyes and sighed. "Why can't he just leave me alone?"

"Because he's worried, we all are. I mean, you _were_ in a coma."

"Thanks for remind me. Although, I have to admit that was the best sleep I've had in a while."

The girls laughed as Rebel's mother, Mrs. Samuels, came into the room talking rapidly on a cell phone. Rebel followed her with her eyes as she bustled around the living room, barking orders into the phone and checking things off of the clipboard. Finally she stopped talking and put the clipboard down, spun around, and smiled.

"How many times have I told you not to put your feet up on the coffee table?" Mrs. Samuels asked. Rebel made a face, as if she were actually taking a while to think about it. "Let me put some emphasis on this…DON'T PUT YOUR FEET ON THE COFFEE TABLE!" The two girls quickly put their feet down on the ground as their eyes widened in shock.

"I forgot that she had a tendency to do that," Rebel said with a chuckle as she shook her head.

"Um…Rebel?" Mrs. Samuels asked hesitantly as her daughter looked over at her. "You got a letter today."

"Who's it from?" Rebel asked in confusion as she got up and walked over to her mother.

"Um…your father."

Mack's eyebrows rose as Rebel's mouth fell open in shock. Her dad was M.I.A., has been about since she was born from what she knew. Talking about Rebel's dad was hard for her so Mack never brought it up. She watched as Rebel attacked the letter and her eyes flew over the page. Mack watched as she balled up the letter before running off to her room.

"Rebel!" Mack called after her.

"Just…leave me alone! Go back to Newt or something!" Rebel shouted from her bedroom.

Mack frowned but gathered up her things anyway. She turned to Mrs. Samuels and asked, "Is Rebel going to be ok?"

"I'll talk to her, if that's what you want," Mrs. Samuels responded. "You know how touchy of a subject her dad is. Getting a letter from him probably…released hidden emotions. Mostly anger, if I'm not mistaken. So, you might want to leave before she starts throwing things around and knocks you unconscious."

"I'd rather be back in a coma than have to deal with my family," Mack said under her breath. "Thanks anyway, Mrs. Samuels. Tell Reb I'll talk to her later. And if my parents call – "

"Don't tell them where you are," she interrupted. "I won't, but you're going to have to tell them sooner of later."

"I know. But later works better for me." Mack waved before leaving the house. She checked the halls before quickly making her way out of the White House. She ducked out of the way from some secret service people that were walking around before leaving. Back in the Samules place Rebel was lying down on her bed and glaring up at the ceiling. A ping on her computer let her know that she had just gotten an i-sight invitation. She moved over to her computer, turned on her camera, and accepted the invitation.

"Hey Reb, I…what's wrong?" Jason asked once he saw Rebel. She wiped away at a tear that slipped down her cheek and smiled a little at the glittery silver streak that was on her finger.

"It's nothing, Jase," she responded as she shook her head.

"Don't lie to me. Remember, my father's a part of the CIA and I am too. I can tell when you're lying. Partly because you suck at keeping a straight face when you lie, but still. Now out with it. If you need help with something you know I'm here." Rebel couldn't help but smile at how sweet her boyfriend was to her.

"It's just…my dad wrote me a letter," Rebel responded after she let out the breath she was holding. She saw Jason's eyes widen once the words left her mouth. His mouth opened and closed rapidly as Rebel glanced over at the picture of her and her father when she was young. She looked at it a couple of seconds longer before knocking it off her table.

"Did he say where he was? Any leads at all?" He asked once he finally found his voice.

"No, but I was hoping you'd be able to help me," she responded as she smiled a little.

"I'm on my way," he said quickly before closing the window. Rebel laughed at his eagerness before she closed her i-sight window. She looked at her cell phone to see the text she had received from Mack before turning her attention to the letter that was on her bed. "Let's figure out where you are once and for all."

The next day Rebel ran through the halls of Washington Prep, searching for her friends. She skidded around a corner and crashed into someone once more. She growled in frustration when she saw that it was Matt again. He reached down to pick up her bags as she checked her outfit to make sure nothing was wrong with it. She was wearing a light pink tank top, white capris, and light pink converses. A white eight section hat was on her head and the bill was turned sideways. Her blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She had metal bangles on her left arm and they clanged together when she reached for her purse.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?" Rebel asked as she yanked her books out of his hand.

"Sorry, I didn't realize that you owned this hallway. Next time I'll ask your permission to see if I'm allowed to walk this way to get to my locker," Matt said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes as Rebel stood.

"See to it that you do," she responded before rushing down the hall once more. She stopped once she turned the corner to her lockers and made a face when she saw Mack and Newt walking to their lockers, hand in hand, heads resting against each others. "Now isn't this a sweet scene," Rebel said and snapped a picture with her phone before Mack could protest. "So, I'm sure you heard by now Newt that my dad sent me a letter."

"Yeah, I did hear that," he said as he nodded. "What'd he say? Did he say where he was? Why he left? If he'll come back?"

"He said that he's fine, he can't tell me where he is, he won't tell me why he left and I don't think he's coming back anytime soon," she responded all in one breath as she turned to her locker to open it. "There was no return address on the envelope but what I'm trying to figure out is how he knew where I was and how he knew that mom died and that I was living with my mom now," she said as she turned to them as if waiting for a suggestion.

"Maybe…he can read your mind," Newt suggested.

"Ok, you, go get me something from the vending machine," Mack said as she let go of his hand and lightly pushed him. He just smiled before walking off as Mack rolled her eyes before turning to Rebel. "You think he's tracking you?"

"I think I would know if I was being tracked," Rebel said with a small smirk. "But no, he's not. He's had no other contact with me at all yet he knows all of this information."

"Maybe it has something to do with you living in the White House," Mack suggested with a shrug. "I figured that was the only way my mom knew about tracking me. Until I got someone smart to destroy it."

"You're welcome," Rebel said with a laugh at the thankful look on Mack's face. "Oh yeah, I just ran into your brother again. He is seriously stronger than he looks."

"You're making it seem like he forced you into something," Mack said slowly as she studied Rebel's face, which instantly turned red.

"Hell no! Even if he tried something I would've tazared him," Rebel said as she put in her locker. "He's still trying to get information out of me. Do you know how to get him to leave me alone?"

"I remember being in this exact some position when I first moved here," Mack said as a teasing grin stretched across her face. "Maybe my brother likes you."

"Don't even joke!" Rebel cried out as her eyes widened. "I have a boyfriend anyway."

"That's not going to stop hiiiim," Mack said in a singsong voice. She laughed as she backed away from Rebel who swung a punch at her. "Hey! You could become my new sister! How cool would that be?"

"That would be awesome, actually," Rebel admitted. "But I have a boyfriend that I'm sticking to like glue."

"I hope," Jason commented as he slipped an arm around her waist. "Hey guys, look at that."

Rebel and Mack turned around and Mack made a sound that resembled her getting kicked in the stomach. Matt was talking to Meena and she was laughing at something he was saying. "I know what he's doing," Mack said through clenched teeth. "He's trying to get information out of Meena."

"You want me to do something about it? I have a couple of plans ready to be used," Rebel suggested.

"Not yet. Wait until after school. I'm going to need some help from America's Angel first."


	4. Turn and Face the Strange and a Change

**Chapter 4: Turn and Face the Strange and a Change**

Rebel walked out of her study hall as the last bell rang with her iPod tied to her wrist with her blinged out strap.

"Hold on tight, it's a roller coaster ride we're on, so, say goodbye 'cause you want be back again, up and down you're all around, say goodnight, and goodbye." she lip-synched to the music that was blaring from her ear buds.

She went over to her locker, still pretending to sing the song. She took her stuff out of her book bag and crammed it in her locker, then looked over at the locker beside her to see if Jason had shown up yet. She shrugged and continued her Jonas Brothers spaz fest.

She packed up her stuff and backed up into someone. "Hey Jase…" she began before looking into a pair of green eyes.

Rebel rolled her eyes and jerked her iPod out of her ears, now blaring "Got to Get Her" by Blake Lewis, ripped the strap off her wrist and shoved it into her locker.

"What do you want now!" she said, her voice rising.

Matt Montgomery stared at her, "What do you know about Meena Paroom?"

"None of your business freak." Rebel glared.

"Yes it is?"

"What makes this your business?"

Matt shrugged.

"That's what I thought." Rebel said as she grabbed her iPod out of her locker and stalked away.

"Come on, you know something." he said.

Rebel turned, "I swear, I know 17 ways to kill someone and I will not be afraid of the consequences if you don't leave me alone RIGHT NOW!"

"God, you're a freak." he said.

"Takes one to know one, bud." she said as she snapped her fingers in his face and trampled out of the school with a horrible glare on her soft features.

Later at the Liberry, Rebel was onstage with Newt practicing for a bit she was doing to fill in with DC3 this weekend since Meena was going to be briefly out of town.

She bounced her hips to the tune of "Hot" by Avril Lavigne, playing with her hair and making sure that her blue and black plaid skirt swayed with her.

"You make me so hot, you make me wanna drop, it's so ridiculous, I can barely stop, I can hardly breath, you make me wanna scream, you're so fabulous, you're so good to me, baby, you're so good to me."

She kept singing until the song stopped and she ran off stage, grabbing her water bottle and screwing the top off.

"That was AWESOME!" Newt exclaimed, high fiving her.

Rebel nodded, "It was fun, I like being in a band, it's cool."

Newt nodded and Jason got up from his spot beside Mack and put his arm around Rebel's shoulders. He shot Newt a look that clearly said, "This girl is MINE."

Newt looked away and then his eyes diverted to the door.

"What are you staring at?" Jason said.

"Mack isn't that your brother?"

Every head turned towards the door to where Matt was walking in.

"Not again!" Rebel groaned

"This kid is getting annoying." Jason said.

"Try living with him." Mack rolled her eyes.

"What do you want?" she said.

"Is Meena here?"

"No." Rebel said, her nose scrunching up.

"She's back in Bahavia for a weekend with her father and shouldn't be home until Sunday around 5:30 PM." Jason said.

Rebel felt her heart stop, "How do you know this?" she grabbed Jason's hand and pulled it off of her shoulder's dropping it dramatically at his side.

"Uh, technology, it's a wonderful thing."

"You! Jason Ryne Stickler! I cannot believe you still watch her! You! Augh!" she yelled, she pulled her hair up and removed Jason's CIA identification tags that he had given to her and dangled them in front of his face.

Jason's eyes got wide, "Come on Rebel, I didn't mean to, come on, I was helping him, nah, I'll delete it, come on babe."

Rebel looked over at Mack. Mack shrugged at her. She glanced at Newt who stood with a blank stare on his face. Rebel put the tags back around her neck and glare at him, "You know what, we're leaving, do you know where we're going Jase?"

"I suppose it involves me and my computers."

"Oh, such a smart one."

Rebel grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the juice bar with everyone else watching.

There was an awkward silence before Newt said, "Anybody for some Chineese food and Chocolate Milk?" Everyone turned around and glanced at him. "Man! Now I'm hungry. Why do I always do that?" he whined.

"And now we don't have a singer, so I guess we can call this rehearsal done and over." Cory said.

Newt sighed and nodded as he packed up his guitar, took Mack's hand and left. Cory stayed behind with Matt who was glaring at Newt as he left.

"What do you want with Meena?" he asked.

"She's gorgeous. Do you have her number or something? Better yet, what info do you have on her in general?" he said.

Cory felt jealously boil in his body, "Here's her number 5-NEVER and she's not into freaks like you. She didn't like Mack originally, she doesn't like Rebel that much and she won't like you so get out of my way."

"Dude, you didn't have to be harsh."

"Yes I do need to, you are such a…words-I-can't-say-in-public-or-I'll-lose-my-job-as-the alternate-fill-in-house-band!" he said as he stuck his drum sticks in his pocket and got out of the Liberry before it was too late.

The next day at school Cory gathered Newt and Mack and told them about her brother.

"He did what?" Mack said.

"Dude…" Newt said.

"Yeah, he did. Your brother's like Stickler, that is, before Rebel came along and made him whipped, well as whipped as you can be while still stalking another girl." he said.

"What am I going to do with him?"

"Shoot him, push him in front of a Metro, push him down an elevator shaft, I don't care, I just want him away from me!" he said.

"Ooh! Can I do it?" Newt gasped, raising his hand.

"I am not shoving my own brother down an elevator shaft!" Mack exclaimed, glaring at Newt and Cory.

"Well whatever happens you've got to…." he stopped suddenly.

"What?" Newt began, "You've got to wha….Becky sweet mother of Chunky Cheddar!"

Mack rolled her eyes at Newt before realizing both boys were staring off into another direction.

"What is…." her jaw dropped.

Rebel was coming towards them, but she looked way different then the last time they saw her just the previous afternoon. Her long blonde hair that usually fell right below her chest was cut to where it just grazed her shoulders. Then to add to the dramatic change, there were two layers cut in, a short top layer and a longer bottom. The top half was the natural blonde and the bottom was a medium brown color.

"Hey guys!"


	5. Not the Same

**Chapter 5: Not the Same**

"Rebel, what did you do?" Mack asked with wide eyes.

"I needed a little change, that's all," she said with a shrug.

"Are you trying to look like Mack? Because if you are it's working," Newt said as he tilted his head slightly. Mack and Cory looked at him before looking at Rebel. He was right, for once. Rebel was wearing a light pink hooded vest over a gray and white striped t-shirt, brown cargo shorts with pink zippers all over it, and black and pink checkered vans. She had her usual pink fishnet fingerless gloves on her hands.

"That wasn't what I was aiming for, but I'm happy with the result," she responded as she shrugged once more. "Anyway, what were you guys talking about?"

"Getting rid of my brother," Mack responded. "Cory's annoyed since he's flirting with Meena a lot."

"I can take care of him," Rebel said with a confident nod.

"I don't want you to _kill_ him," Mack said. "Just send him the message that we all want to be left alone."

"Man, you ruined my fun," Rebel said with a smile as Mack laughed a little. Her attention strayed as Jason walked towards them, Meena by his side and they were talking about something. Their talking stopped and their words hung in midair when they saw Rebel. "Hey guys!" She said cheerfully with a smile and a wave.

"What did you do?" Jason finally asked after gaping at her.

"I just changed a little bit," she responded. "There's nothing wrong with change. You were afraid of Mack at first, she changed, maybe not for the better, but now you two are friends."

"Hey!" Mack exclaimed as she crossed her arms and glared at Rebel, who just waved her away with a laugh.

"I like your hair," Meena said with a smile. "How long did it take for you to get it done?"

"A couple of hours, but I went to the best hairstylist in town so I knew I was in good hands." Rebel looked up as the bell rang. "And school just has to ruin my day. Hey Mack, come with me to Pre Algebra."

"Why?" She asked.

"Do you really care about being at your class on time?"

"Not really. Let's go."

Rebel slung her messenger bag over her shoulder before the two walked off. The boys and Meena stared after her before they also got their things for their class. 

"Ok, what's the real reason she decided on the change?" Jason asked them as he slung his messenger bag over his shoulder.

"Beats me, but I like her new look," Newt said as he closed his locker. "Later dudes." He turned to Meena and added, "Dudette," before walking down the hall to his first period class. Cory, Meena, and Jason took his lead and went off to their different classes.

During the whole school day Cory was fuming over the fact that Matt showed so much interest in Meena and she seemed to like him back. Lunch for them was surprisingly quiet, since Mack and Rebel ignored Matt, who was sitting with them. Jason was using his CIA iphone, Newt and Cory were glaring at Matt who was talking to Meena.

Finally, once school was over, Mack passed up her seat on the Livingston helicopter to head over to the White House so Mack could baby-sit Sophie, the President's daughter. Mack and Rebel got used to her tricks and her cunning tactics to get anything she wanted so they never fell for her plans anymore.

"Hey Soph," Mack greeted her once she entered Sophie's all pink bedroom. "What've you been up to today?"

"Moping," she responded with a sigh.

"Why's that?" Rebel asked as she pulled up a chair and sat down on it, her arms resting across the back.

"Does any of this have to do with that Heathen again?" Mack asked as she looked at Sophie in suspicion, who nodded. "What'd she do this time?"

"She didn't invite me to her birthday party. And it's a zoo party! They get zoo animals to come to them and they even get to ride some ponies!" Sophie explained.

"Hmm…sounds like she got you beat," Rebel pointed out.

"No, really?" Sophie and Mack asked in unison as they gave Rebel a look.

"Well…why don't you just throw your own party?" Rebel suggested. "Something better than the zoo. Liiike…" she looked around Sophie's room for inspiration and her eyes landed on a Hannah Montana poster. "You get have a private Hannah Montanan party! I'm sure everyone would want to go to that."

"Yeah! We can have our own Hannah Montana concert!" Sophie said excitedly as Mack shot Rebel a look who gave her an apologetic one back. "I can't wait for it!"

"Will your dad let you do it?" Mack asked.

"Of course, my daddy lets me have anything I want!" Sophie said, her voice oozing 'duh'. Rebel chuckled as Mack's cell phone beeped, signaling she got a text message. She checked her screen and made a face before typing back and standing up. "What's up?"

"I have to baby-sit my little sister," Mack responded. "Soph, she's about your age, want to come over and meet her? I have to baby-sit you anyway."

"What do I get out of it?" Sophie asked.

"A free 'I-won't-hurt-you' pass," Mack shot back. Sophie quickly agreed as Rebel laughed and the three left Sophie's room to go to the Montgomery house hold. "You don't have to come, Samuels."

"I know, but my mom is with President Martinez, talking about this new document so I'd be home alone," Rebel responded. "Besides, I want to meet your sister."

Mack just nodded as they navigated the halls. Once she got to her old home she pulled out a key and unlocked the door, ushering them inside. Once they entered the family room Rebel spotted Matt, a young girl whom she guessed was Max, and a man who she automatically knew was her father.

"Hey Dad!" Rebel raised an eyebrow at how open Mack was to greeting her father as she rushed over to hug him. "This is my best friend Rebel Samuels and the President's daughter, Sophie Martinez."

"You were at the hospital before, right?" Max asked as she looked up at Rebel.

"That's right," Rebel agreed with a nod.

"You had pretty hair back then. Why'd you change it?"

"I needed a change. It's not good to stay one way for too long."

"Don't give my sister any ideas. She's going to thing that it'll be good to act like a little devil for the rest of her life," Mack said with a small smile. "I wonder if that's what happened to Sophie."

"Ha ha," Sophie said as she rolled her eyes.

"Does your mother know you're here?" Mr. Montgomery asked as he gently rubbed Mack's back.

"Do you think I would visit if she were here?" Mack shot back.

"You're going to be in trouble you know," Matt spoke up. "For not telling us where you are and for lying."

"Thanks for the insight, Stalker," Mack said as she rolled her eyes.

"Fugitive!" He shot back.

'_If they're like this now, I wonder what they were like before,'_ Rebel thought as she watched the exchange with a troubled look on her face.


	6. Love Me For Me, or Don’t Love Me

**Chapter 6: Love Me For Me, or Don't Love Me**

Rebel sighed as she walked into her White House loft that afternoon after school. She threw her black and pink backpack on the ground in anger and rammed her checkered vans into it.

Her phone rang loudly to the tune of "You're My Guardian Angel" by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. She recognized the ringer immediately she pulled the phone out of her purse and hit ignore as she ripped the chain of dog tags off her neck and threw them to the ground.

She cursed under her breath as she trudged back to her room angrily. She fell down face down on her bed and sighed angrily. In the other room she could hear the ringer going off wildly again.

She rolled her eyes.

She sat there for a moment before looking up at her night stand to see a picture of her and Jason that she took herself on her camera. It was after a basketball game, and Rebel, still in her cheerleading uniform was kissing Jason. She rolled over on her back and sighed.

She picked up a notebook out of the floor.

"Hannah Montana party. Needed: HM: Plates, cups, napkins. Other: Food etc. Most importantly: Hannah Montana." Rebel read aloud. "How the hell are we going to book Miley Cyrus for this brat? America's Angel or not."

She turned on her computer and got an I-Sight invitation from Jason. She bit her lip, debating answering the call.

She rolled her eyes, "I'm probably going to regret this." She clicked accept.

When Jason's face came on the screen she stared blankly at him.

"Hey I just wanted to say sorry." he said.

"Whatever."

"Why don't you believe me?" He asked, messing with Rebel's silver ring, that was encrusted with little pink stones that was dangling from a chain around his neck.

"Why are you still wearing that?" she asked.

Jason looked up, taken aback by her question.

"I mean you are my…."

"Where does Meena fit into this picture Jason?" she cut him off.

Jason looked around, "Come on, don't do this right now."

"Jason!" Rebel exclaimed, "Tell me the truth, right now."

Jason crossed his arms in silence.

"Jason!" Rebel said feeling the tears come up to her eyes, "Please tell me that what you're implying isn't true."

Jason said nothing.

"Please," she begged.

After a moment of silence, Rebel glanced back up, "You're still in love with her, aren't you?"

Jason still was silent. Rebel burst into tears.

"Rebel, no come on. Please. I, I lo…."

"Don't say that if you don't mean it. When Newt said it to me, he meant it, the tone he used, regardless of that fact he's in love with Mack now, when he told me he loved me a year ago, it meant something, unlike whatever was about to come out of your mouth. Jason," she paused, trying to hold back her tears.

"Can we please just try, Reb? I don't want to end it here, not like this." He said.

Rebel put her head in her hands, "Fine, but you can't go acting like Meena's the world to you. Jason, you have a girlfriend who cares a lot about you and, and, you doing stuff like this makes you look stupid. I'm sorry."

Jason nodded, "I gotta go, see you later."

Rebel nodded exiting the window on her screen and walking back over to her bed. She picked up the picture and glared at it before placing it face down on the table.

She stared out the window blankly as Ms. Samuels slipped quietly into the door.

"Rebel?" she said

Rebel turned to face her mother with a tear stained face.

"Oh no, what happened?" she said.

Rebel burst into tears telling her everything about Jason still looking after Meena. 

"I guess that answers why these were on the floor." She said, holding up the dog tags.

Rebel nodded taking them in her hand and looking down, running her thumb across Jason's name and clutching them tightly.

"I've seen the way he acts around you. Rebel, he loves you. It's clear. He holds the door open for you, he lets you wear those," she paused, pointing to the tags, still in Rebel's hand, "And remember when you fell asleep watching High School Musical 2, what did he do?"

Rebel smiled a bit, "He got you to call his mom and tell her he was either going to stay the night or until I woke up, because he didn't want to wake me up himself."

"Then what did he do?"

"He stayed the night."

Samantha hugged her daughter tightly and sighed, "Rebel, he cares about you, he wouldn't cheat on you with Meena and you need to believe him."

Rebel nodded as her mom let go of her and went out of the room.

Rebel sighed thinking about what her mother said. She ran it over in her brain for a moment before looking at another picture on her nightstand. It was of her, Meena, Jason, Mack, and Sophie at a Jonas Brothers concert a few months ago. She stared at herself and then at Meena.

There were a few differences between them. Although, there was only one that stuck out to Rebel.

She walked over to her long mirror on her wall and stared into it. She then saw herself like she had never seen herself before.

She saw someone with a strong resemblance to Tracy in Hairspray. She saw unflattering curves, chubby, baby-faced cheeks and a wide backside.

"God, when did I get this way." she said, running her hands down her hips.

She looked down and thought what she was seeing might be her imagination, but to her, she wasn't.

"No wonder Jason wants nothing to do with me."


	7. My Friends Over You

**Chapter Seven: My Friends Over You**

"If there's anything I hate more about this school it's the uniform they make us wear for Gym," Rebel said as she looked down at the white t-shirt and black shorts she was wearing. Her hair was up in pigtails and she stared at herself in the locker room mirror.

"You've never had a problem with it before," Mack pointed out as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and quickly tied it.

"And I don't have a problem with it now, it's just too…boring," Rebel said quickly as she tied her shoes. "C'mon, let's go before we get a detention like the rest of these witches."

Mack and Rebel rushed into the Gym to join the rest of the girls as they waited for gym. The teacher finally came in and made them run laps for five minutes. Most of the girls feel out during the first minute and were shooting glares at Mack, Meena, and Rebel. But the only reason they weren't paying attention to the fact that they had to run so much was because they were talking about the new school stalker, aka Matt.

"I don't see how you put up with him, Meena," Mack said as the three stood off to the side and stretched.

"He's really nice," Meena responded as she bent to the left, with her hands on her waist.

"That's saying like Chucky is just a doll," Mack said sarcastically. "My brother is just trying to get information out of you. I know all of his tricks."

"Would he ask me out if he wanted to get information out of me?" Meena asked as she brought her leg behind her and held it as she balanced on the other leg.

"He asked you out!?" Rebel cried out in shock as she shot up her head. "Tell me you said no."

"I said yes, actually," Meena said hesitantly. "Why, is that a problem?"

"No, maybe if he dates you he can finally leave me alone," Mack said as she rolled her eyes. "Looks like we're playing Kickball, great I can pretend that the ball's my brother."

"And I can pretend it's Jason," Rebel added.

"The CIA couple had a fall out?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No…I'm just annoyed with him right now. There's no other way to let out my frustration than a good game of Kickball."

--------

"Hey, are you going to eat that?" Newt asked as he pointed to the cake slice that was sitting on Rebel's plate. He, Rebel, Mack, and Cory were eating lunch in the quad. Meena and Matt were going over math problems at a different table and Jason was nowhere to be fine. "Dudette?" Newt asked as he waved his hand in front of her face.

"Hmm?" Rebel asked as she looked up from her plate. "Did you say something?"

"Is something bothering you? You're quieter than usual," Cory pointed out. "And that means either you're plotting something or something's on your mind."

"I'm just…thinking of some things," she responded as she put down her fork and pushed her plate away from herself. "Here, you guys can have it, I'm not hungry."

"You barley ate anything," Mack pointed out as Newt and Cory devoured the cake.

"I had a lot during break," she responded as she rested her cheek on her palm, an exhausted look was on her face. "So, I've been up making calls and the only way that Hannah Montana can come to Sophie's party is if the Jonas Brothers come too, since they're all on tour."

"That's not a bad thing," Mack said before popping a piece of a chocolate muffin into her mouth. "The Jonas Brothers are pretty cool."

"Yeah, but now we're going to have to deal with Sophie saying that she's going to marry Nick."

"Ooh! Ooh! I get to be the Minister at the wedding!" Newt said as he shot his arm into the air.

"Newt, put your arm down," Mack said as she let out a sigh. He did as he was told but pouted before he took another bite of the cake. "So, do you want to hang out tonight? Go see a movie or something?"

"Sure, what're we seeing?" Newt asked as he licked the fork.

"Newt, I was talking to Rebel," Mack said as she made a face. "It'll be a G.N.O."

"G.N.O.?" He repeated. "What's that mean? Great new octopus?"

"It means Girl's Night Out," Rebel told him with a little laugh. "And I think I'm going to need that."

"Cool, I'll meet you here right after school," Mack said as she stood and lifted her messenger bag.

"What about me? What'm I going to do?" Newt asked.

"Write more songs with Cory," she responded in a tight voice. "Which remindes, Cory, can we get your dad to cater a party Sophie wants to throw?"

"I'm sure he'd love to," Cory responded. "After the last fiasco with Sophie trying to cook he won't let her touch anything that's in the kitchen.

"Thanks, peace." She put up a peace sign before walking off.

"I have to go too, I have a student government meeting thing," Newt said before he and Cory did their 'secret' handshake and he rushed off.

"Is it just me or is Newt being kinda clingy to Mack?" Rebel asked as she looked at Cory.

"I noticed it too," Cory agreed. "And I think Mack's going to explode if she doesn't get her space."

"Speaking of explode," she grumbled when she noticed Jason rushing their way.

"Rebel, you won't believe what I found out!" He said excitedly.

"I don't want to hear it," she snapped as she stood and lifted the hood to her pink hooded vest.

"But it has to do with your father." She stopped and clenched her hands into fists as they shook slightly by her side. She glared at nothing in particular as she clenched her teeth so a vein in her jaw pulsed slightly. "Reb?"

"Don't talk to me!" She hissed before she walked away.

"Man, Stickler, what did you do to make Rebel so mad at you?" Cory asked as he laughed. "Did you spy on her or something?"

"Or something," he muttered before he turned and walked slowly away. Cory shook his head before his eyes rested on Matt and Meena and he growled under his breath as the two burst out laughing over something.

"He is so going down!" Cory declared. His eyes lit up as he said, "And I know the perfect way to make that happen!"


	8. Break Us and Make Us Fall Apart

**Chapter 8: B****reak Us and Make Us Fall Apart**

Mack sat on a table in the quad staring off into space when she felt someone flick her on the shoulder.

"Hey dudette." Newt greeted her with a smile.

Mack briefly looked away and rolled her eyes. "Hey," she said.

"What's up?" he asked, sitting down beside her, really close.

She scooted back a little and glanced at him. "Nothing. I'm waiting for Rebel. I told you this like five times today," she snapped.

Newt pursed his lips and nodded, "Okay."

There was brief silence before Newt looked back at her, "Need any help with Sophie's party?"

"Does this involve your weird fascination with Hannah Montana?" Mack said, not making eye contact at him, a glare on her face.

"Psh, no."

"Newt."

"Okay, I give, I want to meet her, Hannah's so pretty."

Mack felt her eye twitch, "Remember what Rebel told you?"

"Oh please, like Hannah Montana is truly this girl named Miley in a wig. Dudette's lost her mind. It's just like when she told me that Maddie's real name was Sharpay." he said.

Mack hit herself in the face with her palm and glanced at him, "Fine, you can help."

"And," Newt paused, "Can you do something for me?"

"Now what?" Mack said in a tight voice.

"I really want to play with the Jonas Brothers." He said, doing an air guitar.

Mack's eyes widened, "What? Why? How? Newt, I don't know if you could do that."

"Please," he said, "I've already asked Rebel and all she did was stare at me like I had just told her Jason died and then she laughed for a very, very, very, very..."

"Yeah! I get it, she laughed! Stop it! I'll see what I can do. Geez!" she said.

Newt hugged her tightly, "Thanks, you're the best."

He quickly let go of her and ran out of the quad in a rush.

"What was that about?" Rebel said, coming up behind Mack.

Rebel paused, "Oh no, this isn't about the Hannah Miley thing again is it?" Mack nodded. "And..."

"Yep, and the JoBros."

"Wow..."

Mack rolled her eyes, "That boy seriously isn't all there."

Rebel nodded in agreement, "Sounds like someone else I know." She glanced out of the corner of her eye where Jason was walking by, by himself to his limo. "Ignore him." Rebel said, backhanding Mack on the arm as she had turned to give him a short wave.

"You go die." Mack said, staring at Rebel.

Rebel gave a short laugh, "Ha, I like that one. I'm saving it, 'kay."

"Whatever." Mack paused, "What do you want to go see anyway?"

Rebel smiled widely.

"Nothing stupid. No Enchanted, no Chipmunks, do you hear me?" Mack said as she pointed an accusing finger at her.

Rebel's smile faded, "You suck!"

"I know you too well." Mack said with a slight smile.

"Juno?" Rebel shrugged.

"Why not."

When they got to the theatre Rebel's phone rang wildly, but now to the tune of 'Good & Broken' by Miley Cyrus.

"Woah, that's my default." she said, grabbing her phone out of her pocket.

She answered it quickly, "Hello?" Mack stared at her as an annoyed expression came over her features, "It's for you," she held the phone out the Mack.

"Oh no, it's not Newt is it?" 

Rebel shook her head, "It's Baxter," she said in a very disgusted tone.

Mack answered the phone, "Hello?"

"This Mack?"

"Who else do you think it is Baxter, dang!"

"That's my line, and anyway, I need your help."

"For what?"

"I need you to talk your brother out of dating Meena."

"I don't mess with my brother, sorry." she said in a sing song voice.

"Please, if you do this, I'll get Newt off your back, to the extent that you want him off of you."

"Okay, I live with the dude, how is he going to exactly get off of me?"

"Who Newt or Matt?"

"Newt you idiot."

"Oh, I don't know, just work with me here, okay. I want to ask her out, please don't let me down."

"I'll try."

She hung up the phone as Rebel stood, annoyed with two tickets in her hand and a dramatic eyeroll to follow.

"What did he want?" she asked.

"He wanted something about my brother, what else?" she said.

"He's a freak." Rebel said matter-of-factly.

Mack nodded in agreement as they walked in and up to the concessions. Mack got popcorn and a drink as Rebel walked up and stared blankly at the menu for what seemed like forever, "Water. In a bottle. That's it."

Mack stared at Rebel for a minute in question, remembering the time Rebel, Jason, Newt and her had double dated and Rebel and Newt started a gummy bear fight because both of them had bought two boxes and she had downed half of Jason's.

"No gummy bears? That's so not like you at all." Mack said.

Rebel shook her head quickly, "Nope. I think after Newt's attack I'm getting kind of sick of them."

"Okay, whatever you say." Mack said.

As they were sitting, waiting for the movie to start Rebel randomly blurted out, "I am so psyched to meet the Jonas Brothers! Oh my God, Nick is so amazingly gorgeous."

"That was way random, but yeah, they're cool." Mack nodded, "And don't let Sophie hear you talking like that, she'll kill you. Seriously, she probably has people for that."

Rebel stared at Mack, "You think so?" Mack nodded. "Joe Jonas is so gorgeous." Rebel corrected herself quickly.

After the movie, Rebel and Mack met Ms. Samuels infront of the theatre and got in the car.

"So are you two excited about the whole Hannah party?" she asked.

"I've seen the stupid concert once." Mack said.

"I know, but not this close and you've never met the Jonas Brothers before." Rebel bounced happily.

"You have mental problems." Mack said.

Rebel crossed her arms over her chest.

"Rebel, I found these in the fishbowl. I don't want to find them there again." Ms. Samuels handed her a pair of silver tags from in one of the cup holders.

"Aw man!" Rebel groaned, "I thought that'd be the last place you'd check."

"I'm much smarter than you think." Ms. Samuels said.

She shoved the tags into her pocket and rolled her eyes again.

"Why don't you want to wear his necklace?" Mack asked.

"He's so close to getting left he can smell it, yet he doesn't apologize." Rebel said.

"Get off it Rebel, you know he loves you or he wouldn't wear your ring anymore." Ms. Samuels said.

"I semi agree, but he is being downright horrible about this whole thing." Mack replied.

Rebel nodded as they stopped at the Livingstons' where Newt was standing on the front porch.

"Go greet your watch dog." Rebel laughed.

"Laugh all you want, he was your watch dog once." Mack said as she slid the door to the SUV shut.

Rebel rolled down her window and stuck half her body out as they were pulling out of the driveway, "Touche!"

"Rebel Marie!" Ms. Samuels shouted, "You are not a dog, get back into this car!"

Rebel waved one last time before getting pulled down into the car. Mack laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Told you that girl was crazy." Newt said.

"Yep." Mack sighed.

"Are you okay?" Newt said.

"I'm fine." She said.

"You aren't, you know, er, I don't know..." he said.

Mack glared at him, her dark eyeliner making her look that much more angry, "What are you implying?"

"Nothing, I was just, I'm worried about you. I can't help it."

"Newt! I'm fine! Can't you see? I'm actually happy! I don't have to worry about my mom, Rebel's seemed happier, even though her and Jason are going mental and my life has been better! So no I don't want to cut myself! What I want is for you to lay off!" she yelled, running into the house.

Newt put his hands to his head and looked up into the sky, "This is not awesome! Dude!"


	9. We Got the Party With Us

**Chapter 9: We Got the Party With Us**

"What're you doing?" Newt asked as he stood in the doorway of Mack's room. He watched as she shoved an arm full of clothes haphazardly into a bag.

"Packing," she responded without looking at him.

"Are we going on vacation?"

"Nope," she responded, still not looking at him. "You're staying here. I'm going back to the White House."

"What?" He cried out. "Why? I thought you liked it here."

"I need a change of pace," she said as she finally turned to look at him. "And I need to make sure Matt doesn't corrupt Maxie."

"But, I want you to stay," Newt said before he stuck out his lower lip.

"Newt, don't pout at me, I've made up my mind," she said as she rolled her eyes before turning to put more things into her bag. Once she closed it, it was practically bursting at the seams. "Hmm, I don't remember packing this much," she muttered to herself as she poked the bag, making sure it wouldn't explode. She grabbed it and turned around to see Newt still looking at her

"Did I do something to make you want to leave?" He asked.

"Newt…"

"Did I?"

"No Newt," Mack responded as she let out a sigh. "You didn't, I just want to go back."

"But…I love you." Mack stopped in her tracks as she stared at Newt, her lips parted as her eyes widened slightly. Newt just stared at her, waiting for a response. She just shook her head before brushing past him. He stood in the doorway, listening as she briefly talked to his parents before the front door slammed shut. "Dude."

Mack rushed through the White House, asking anyone she passed if they saw Rebel recently. They told her that she was in the Party Room with Sophie and the rest of the girls were waiting eagerly for the party. "Rebel, I need to talk to you."

"Didn't we just drop you off like…a chapter ago?" Rebel asked as Mack grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the Party Room and into the hallway. "What's going on?"

"You won't believe what Newt just told me," Mack responded.

"What? He finally realized that Ashley Tisdale plays both Maddie and Sharpay?" She asked with a laugh as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"No, he said he loves me." Mack waited for Rebel's reaction and it took her about five seconds before she burst out laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Newton Livingston…saying he loves you…he can't even make up his mind about what cheese to like. What made him make up his mind about loving you?" Rebel asked as she finally caught her breath.

"I don't know," Mack exclaimed as she threw her arms into the air. "The only thing I know is–"

"THE JONAS BROTHERS ARE HERE!" Ms. Samuels screeched, causing the two girls to jump and cover their ears.

"She's a fan girl too!?" Mack cried out in shock.

"Yeah…" Rebel said as she stuck her finger in her ear and wiggled it before pulling it out. "Unfortunately. Well, let's go meet them before the younger girls kill them."

"You just want to hug Joe," Mack said with a teasing smile as she poked Rebel in the side. Rebel gave her an innocent look before the two went back into the Party Room, where the little girls and Ms. Samuels were screaming at the top of their lungs as the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana walked into the Party Room.

"Hey Sophie, it's great to be back here," Hannah said as she held out her hand to Sophie, but she brushed past her and hugged Nick around the waist. "Yeah…pretend I'm not even here."

"She's obsessed with Nick, I should've warned him about that," Rebel said as Mack went over to pry the little girl off of him as Kevin and Joe stood by laughing. "Hey Hannah, I'm Rebel."

"That's an…uncommon name," she said as she smiled.

"I get that a lot," Rebel said with a small smile. "Sophie, let go!" She cried out before grabbing the girl around the waist and helping Mack pull her away. "What part of Don't Attack the Guests do you _not_ understand?"

"But it's–" Sophie started to protest.

"_THE JONAS BROTHERS_!" Meena cried out once she passed through the doors of the Party Room. "Do you know that you're the Jonas Brothers?" She asked as she jogged in place slightly as she flapped her hands.

"Take some Ritalin, girl!" Mack said as Matt, Max, Jason, Cory, and Newt came in through the door.

"Umm…it's nice to meet you?" Kevin's statement came out more as a question as Meena started to giggle.

"Hey I'm Mack, that's Rebel," she said as she pointed. "And this is Cory, Newt, Jason, Meena, my brother Matt, my sister Max, and the little heathen I baby-sit, Sophie."

"People call me America's Angel," she said as she smiled cutely at them. "And I just _love_ your band ad Hannah Montana."

"Thanks," Joe said with a big smile. "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's get this Presidential party started!"

The guys and Mack made a face as all of the girls, including Ms. Samuels screamed before the Jonas Brothers started playing. Rebel caught the look on Mack's face and quickly changed her attitude to one of someone who didn't care….which didn't last long.

"OMG, Joe is so _hot_!" Rebel muttered as she watched him take a bite out of the cake that Chef Baxter had made.

"Ok, and I thought you liking Jason was strange," Mack commented, causing Rebel to whirl around and look at her.

"And you and _Newt_ being together isn't strange?" She shot back.

"To tell you the truth I'm thinking of breaking up with him," Mack said as she avoided Rebel's gaze as Matt came over. "If you want to know something else about Meena I'm not telling you."

"I wasn't going to ask anything about Meena," Matt said as he rolled his eyes. "I was going to ask you to come back on behalf of our family," he said as he looked down at Max. "We all miss you, and Mom promised not to be all over your case the whole time, she just wants to help."

"Mom probably won't keep that promise," Mack muttered.

"Mack, your Mom's trying to make things better between you. If my Mom offered me that chance, I'd jump at it," Rebel told her.

"Yeah, listen to your beautiful friend," Matt said before smiling at her.

"Don't do that," Rebel said as an annoyed look crossed her face, either because of what Matt said or because of the fact that Jason was talking to Meena and they both glanced over at her from time to time.

"I want you back, Mackie," Max said as she hugged her sister around the waist.

"And you stick the little one on me," Mack said with a laugh before picking her up. "Fine, I'll come back. But one comment and I'm out."

"Deal," Matt said with a nod. "Now, can I ask _why_ you fell for someone like…him?" Matt asked as they turned to look at Newt and Cory, who were attacking the chocolate cake that was on the table while Nick and Kevin stood by, laughing as Hannah sang Nobody's Perfect on stage.

"Shut up," Mack said as she rolled her eyes. "Reb, you want some cake?" She asked as they grabbed a piece. Rebel stared at it, her mind battling over whether or not to eat it.

"I can't believe _we're_ stuck cleaning," Mack grumbled after the party was over. She waited for Rebel to respond and rolled her eyes when she saw her talking to Joe. "Ok, I can't believe _I'm_ stuck cleaning while Rebel's getting her flirt on."

"Ok, who the hell says that?" Matt asked as he tossed a balled up napkin at her.

"This is what happens when I'm around a girl like Rebel."

"So…is it all right if I call you sometime?" Rebel asked as she flicked the piece of paper that was in her fingers.

"Sure," Joe responded as he smiled brightly at her. "I have to go now. Hope I can see you later." He gave a peace sign before leaving the room with his brothers. She ignored the comments from Newt about how awesome it was to play with the Jonas Brothers as she quickly made her way into the bathroom. She held the rim of the sink as she leaned forward and stared at herself in the mirror. Her wide face stared back at her as she wiped the chocolate smudge off of the side of her mouth.

"No," she whispered to herself as she backed away from the mirror. "Couldn't Joe see me as this? Why would he talk to me when I look like this?" She backed into a bathroom stall and stuck her finger down her throat. She coughed, but nothing came up so she stuck another finger down her throat.

She coughed once more, bringing up chocolate cake in the process. She spat and blinked rapidly to keep the tears that were in her eyes from falling down her face. She went back over to the sink and took in some of the water form the faucet and swished it around her mouth before spitting in the sink as a thought crossed her mind.

'_I feel lighter all ready.'_


	10. I'm Not Your Girl, So Stop Asking

**Chapter 10:**** I'm Not Your Girl, So Stop Asking**

Rebel entered the quad early on Monday morning. She walked to her locker and began to take her stuff out when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to see Jason standing behind her.

"What do you want?" she said sharply.

"I'm sick of fighting," he responded with a sigh.

"I'm sick of you."

"I want you back."

"I want you to leave."

"You're all I ever wanted, you're all I ever needed." He said as she began to walk away.

Rebel turned on her heel to face him again, "Stop listening to NSYNC and get a life!"

Jason sighed in defeat as she turned down the hallway. Rebel cursed under her breath as she kept walking back toward the quad.

"Hey dudette!" Newt yelled at her.

"Hey" she said as she walked up to him.

"Nice shirt." he said, pointing to her Jonas Brothers shirt from Saturday.

Rebel eyed his. He had a black shirt on with Hannah Montana on the front. He had a black and white striped shirt underneath it. She stared curiously at the shirt then back up at him, "Eh, uh, you too."

"How's it going with you and Stickler?"

"Ew, don't ask." she said just as Mack's motorcycle came to a stop and she got off.

Newt yelled, "What's up Mack?"

Mack ignored the boy and grabbed Rebel by her upper arm and dragged her off to the hallway.

"What's wrong with you?" Rebel said, flailing her arms in irritation as Mack let go.

"I don't want to be around him," she said.

"Why?" Rebel said in a babyish tone, "Mackie already sick of her boyfriend?"

Mack flipped Rebel off as she kept talking, "Yes. He's smothering me. It's getting on my last nerve."

"Jason's getting on mine, so now you know how I feel." she said.

"So what are we gonna do?" Mack asked. Rebel shrugged as they kept walking down the hallway talking abut the Hannah and Jonas party. "Has Joe called you yet, or visa versa?" Mack asked.

Rebel shook her head, "I'm kind of nervous to. I mean, he's Joe freaking Jonas, he could have any girl in the world."

Mack finished her sentence, "And he gave you his number."

"What about Jason?"

"Since when do you care about him recently?" Mack asked with a raised eyebrow. Rebel shrugged as they walked to class. At lunch, Rebel came and sat down beside Cory, Meena, Matt, Mack, and Newt.

"Hey guys." she said as she sat down.

A few responses of "Hey" and "'Sup" followed.

Rebel was excitedly talking to Meena about the party when her phone rang. Rebel glanced around the quad. It wasn't Jason, because he was sitting by himself, eating and looking rather mad at the world. She looked at the ID.

It read: JOE JONAS

Rebel's mouth fell to the ground as she flipped it open with a shaking hand.

She took a deep breath and said, "Hey"

"What's with her?" Cory said.

"I thought she was pissed at Stickler," Matt said in a confused tone.

Then, it hit Mack, "That's not Stickler."

Rebel got up and went into the hallway to continue her conversation.

"Hey" Joe replied.

There was a bit of silence before Rebel said, "Uh, what's up?"

"You wanna go out tonight?"

"What? It's a school night. Crap. That was stupid. Uh, Wait! How? You're supposed to be in Illinois." Rebel said quickly.

Joe laughed, "Hey, I understand if you just want to be friends."

Rebel gasped, "No, quite the opposite. Uh, sure, what time? And again, how are you going to be here?"

"7:30, and it's rather awesome how quick air travel is." he said.

"Why are you doing this?" Rebel asked, a smile playing on her face.

"This is going to sound so stupid but I couldn't stop thinking about you. I couldn't stop watching you from onstage. It was crazy. A good crazy though, like drinking a Red Bull before doing a sold out show crazy." he said.

Rebel laughed, "It doesn't sound stupid at all."

"Cool, I can't wait." he said.

"To see you again." she said smartly.

Joe laughed, "Totally, see you later."

"Bye." she said as she hung up.

She slapped herself across the face, "There is no way this is real!"

She looked back out into the quad at her eyes instinctively landed on Jason. A pit of guilt formed inside of her.

"Come on Reb, it's Joe Jonas for God's sake, you've liked him since you first saw the 'Mandy' video, don't flake now," she said to herself.

She put her phone back into her pocket and headed into the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror. She saw no difference in her weight, even though she knew she had forced herself sick many times since she looked in the mirror in her room.

"Why in the hell hasn't Joe seen this? I'm horrible. No matter how much I practice with cheerleading, no matter how less I eat, no matter how many times I puke it's no better." she thought.

She then bent over and looked to see if anyone was in any of the stalls. No one was there. She went into one of the bathrooms and bent down in front of one of the toilets and fought back tears as she quickly shoved her finger in the back of her mouth and emptied herself. She stood up and flushed, walked out, washed her hands, wiped her face and went to the drink machine, getting a Sierra Mist and swishing it in her mouth. She walked back out into the quad to see that no one was there. She looked at the clock.

"Oh shit." she said, seeing that she had missed twenty minutes of her fifth period Drama class.

She went to grab her bookbag when she saw it was gone.

"God!" she yelled running down the hall and into Dr. Vanderslice's class. Everyone turned and stared at her.

Rebel winced as Dr. Vanderslice shot her a penetrating glare, "Sit."

She nodded taking her seat. She felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned to see Jessica Maldanado sitting behind her with a note in her hand. She opened the note and began reading.

"Got your bookbag."

She looked down. Her quilted messenger bag was right beside her desk.

"Where did you go at lunch? I hope you're alright.- Jason"

She rolled her eyes and balled up the note. She didn't care who saw, Jason wasn't in this class and she honestly didn't give a rip about his feelings anymore. After class, Rebel went into the hall and tried to find Mack. Finally she saw her talking to her brother, back against a row of lockers.

"Hey!" she said, bouncing up and down excitedly remembering the news from earlier, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!"

"WHAT!" Mack raised her voice.

Rebel jumped and frowned, "I had something very interesting to tell you, but I guess I won't."

"You're going to end up telling me in the end, so just spit it out."

"Okay" Rebel said, glaring at Matt.

"I suppose you don't want me here." Matt said.

"Right." Rebel smirked, "Buh bye freak."

"Later gorgeous." he said

"Ew.." Rebel scrunched her nose up in disgust.

"I love him, but he has mental problems, serious mental problems." Mack said matter-of-factly.

Rebel laughed slightly, "Now, back to business, if I tell you something, you have to promise not to tell anyone, not even Newt."

"Ooh, this must be big. You tell Newt everything." Mack said, "I promise."

"Joe asked me out. Tonight at 7:30!" she said.

"What? How?"

"He's flying down because he can't stop thinking about me!" she grinned.

Mack rolled her eyes, "Girl, you bounce back fast."

"Girl, this is Joe Jonas."

"What about Jason?"

"Screw him. If he doesn't want to apologize, what do I care?"

"You know you still love him." Mack said.

"I could say the same thing about you and Newt..."

"But you want to live to see you JoBro tonight."

"Exactly."

Rebel paused, "Speaking of which, you need to come home with me after school where you can help me pick out an outfit."

Mack groaned, "I hate helping you pick out clothes. God, I feel like Zack and Cody on that episode where they had to watch their mom pick out dresses and shoes. Although, I'd rather help you then be at my house."

Rebel smiled, "You're my total BFF you know that right?"

Mack nodded, "Sadly."


	11. First Date

**Chapter 11: First Date**

"Why am I here again?" Mack asked as she spun around in Rebel's swivel chair.

"Because I'm going to go on my date in…an hour and a half and I don't have anything to wear," Rebel responded as she threw a pair of jeans onto her bed.

"I don't get what's so hard about picking clothes for a date," Mack said as she rolled her eyes. "You just wear something and go."

"Obviously you haven't been on a date before," Rebel pointed out.

"_You_ haven't either!" Mack shot back as she threw a pillow at Rebel and she caught it easily. "Reb, just wear a top and jeans."

"But _which one_?"

"Arrgh! You are such a girl!"

"It's what I take pride in." Mack threw a pillow another pillow at her and this time it hit her in the face. Mack burst out laughing as Rebel rolled her eyes and smiled a little.

* * *

"You want me to do _what_?" Cory asked in bewilderment as he blinked at Jason.

"I need you to come with me and spy on Rebel's date," Jason repeated as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Why me?" Cory demanded as he glared at Jason in suspicion. "What do I get out of this?"

"A date with Meena," Jason responded as he crossed his arms and let out a sigh of annoyance. "I can make it work," he said as Cory opened his mouth. "And she'll be willing," he added when he opened his mouth once more. "And I won't use any CIA gadget on her."

"You got yourself a deal!" Cory said as he shook Jason's hand. "So, when do we leave?"

"Let's see," Jason said as he pulled out his CIA palm pilot. He tapped the screen with the tiny pointer before he said anything. "She and Mack are in her room, probably talking about girl stuff. So she should be leaving in exactly…one hour, twenty seven minutes, and fifteen seconds."

"You seriously have a problem," Cory said as he made a face.

"If being in love is a problem, then I agree with you," Jason said seriously as he returned his palm pilot to his pocket. "Baxter, I have to get Rebel back. I don't fully understand why she's so mad at me, but I have to get her back no matter what it takes."

"Ok," Cory said with a nod. "But if we get caught, you're on your own."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Cory and Jason waited around the White House kitchen, occasionally glancing at Jason's CIA Palm Pilot. Meena and Newt joined them in their wait. Well, Newt sulked at the table and Meena just watched Jason and Cory pace back and forth. "Look, we can go," Jason said as he picked up his palm pilot.

"I think going all black is over doing it," Meena said as they walked down the hallway of the White House. "And why did you drag _me_ into this? I'm missing _That's So Pooshnick_ because of this."

"We're trying to help a friend who's in love," Cory responded as they rushed out to Jason's car that was waiting. He glanced at Newt before adding, "He's next on the list."

"Right," Meena agreed. They all climbed into the limo and buckled up before Jason gave the driver a signal to pull away from the White House. "So, where are we going?"

"Oh, they're going to go to the Purple Lobster and then they're going to catch a movie," Meena responded immediately. They all turned and gave her a look. "She told me," Meena said as she waved her cell phone as she raised an eyebrow. "But I still don't feel right about stalking them."

"Oh, you're not going to stalk them," Jason reassured her.

"I'm not?" Meena asked in confusion. "Then why am I here?"

"Because you and Cory are going to stay here and see where they go…Livingston and I are going to stalk them," he responded in an obvious tone. "Pull over here," he said to the driver who nodded and did as he was told. "Come on," he said to Newt before the two got out of the car. He gave orders to the driver before he stuck his head in the window and explained what the machines did before leaving.

"This doesn't feel right," Meena said with a sigh. "I shouldn't be spying on my best friends."

"How else are we going to convince Rebel to take Stickler back?" Cory asked as he turned to look at her. "Or convince Mack to take Newt back? Why did she break up with him again?"

"I'm not going to discuss my friends' personal matters," Meena said as she crossed her arms.

"I'll give you a box of jelly doughnuts," Cory said in a sweet voice as Meena looked at him. She liked American food a lot since she moved to Washington from Bahavia but her favorite thing was jelly filled doughnuts.

"Deal," Meena said eagerly as she shook Cory's hand. She turned her attention to the devices that Jason had in his car and Cory looked at his hand with a dreamy smile on his face. _'I'm never washing my hand again.'_

_**Rebel's POV**_

"Have you been to the Purple Lobster before?" Joe asked me as we walked into the restaurant.

"Umm…only once," I responded as I twisted a blond section of my hair around my finger, before realizing what I was doing and pulling my arm down. "I came with my Mom for her birthday."

"I hear they have really good breadsticks," he added as we followed a waiter to a table. I just nodded and smiled a little before starting to sit. "No, let me," he said stopping me and pulling out my chair. I smiled in appreciation and let him push in my chair.

"So what made you go on tour with Hannah Montana…er, Miley?" I asked as I looked at him.

"She was dating Nick," he responded. "You know, I was going to bring him with me. He seemed interested in your friend."

"Uh, my friend doesn't like being set up," I said as I shrugged a little. "So Nick's not dating her now?"

"No, but they always seem to be the center attention on any magazine on any stand," he responded.

"Jealous?" I asked with a small laugh.

"Of the attention, not that Nick was dating Miley," he responded. "Although some people believe that I want to date her. She's sweet but she's not my type."

I could feel my cheeks heat up as I looked down at the menu that was on the table. I felt something hit my forehead and I looked past Joe and out the window to see Mack and Matt waving frantically. "Uhhh, I have to go to the bathroom," I said as I quickly jumped up and rushed out. "What're you _doing_ here?"

"You think I'd let my best friend go on her first date without knowing what to say?" Mack asked. "Do you not know me at all?" She paused and added, "And it _is_ Joe freaking Joans."

"So, what we're going to do is put this tiny microchip on you so we can hear what he's saying. We'll only speak to you incase of a sensitive subject or something," Matt said as he held up a small black device.

"Sounds like something Stickler would do," I muttered.

"Speaking of Stickler," Mack said as she pointed. I looked over my shoulder and saw him and Newt ducking behind a plant. "They must be spying on your date. Do you want me to do something about it?"

"No, I have a plan myself," I responded as I put the device on my shirt. "Now, I have to go. You two keep tabs on them." I rushed back to the table and quickly sat down.

"You were gone for a while, are you all right?" Joe asked as he looked at me in concern.

"I'm fine," I responded. "So, did I miss the waitress all ready?"

"Yeah, I ordered you something," he responded. "If that's ok," he quickly added. "I just picked something I hoped you'd like. You can take it back if you want."

"You're rambling," I pointed out with a small smile.

"Sorry," he apologized as he blushed slightly. "I don't usually get tongue tied. This is crazy."

"Like drinking a Red Bull before a sold out concert crazy," I repeated as I tried not to laugh.

"Exactly," he said with a smile as a waitress came and put our food down in front of us.

"Seafood Medley," I commented once I looked at my plate. "It's surprisingly my favorite. How'd you know that?"

"Just a guess," he said with a shrug before smiling again, which caused my heart to turn. I ignored Jason and Newt who were glaring from across the room. I also tried to ignore the paparazzi that were taking pictures but it was hard when blinding lights were hitting you from every angle. "I'm sorry about this," Joe apologized as he stood and put his napkin on his table and quickly put money down on the table. "Come on, let's get out of here," he said as he took my hand and started to lead me out of the restaurant. "You must hate me for this," he said once we stopped running down the street.

"No, I've always expected it was hard for celebrities to be able to go out without paparazzi following them," I said as I shook my head. "I'm ok with it, I mean I'm friends with the son of the Chef of the White House, the President's daughter, the son of a United States Supreme Justice and Senator, and the daughter of a Bahavian Ambassador. I've had my fair share of paparazzi problems."

"Would you mind if there were more?" He asked.

"No," I responded slowly. "Why?"

He bent down and quickly kissed my cheek. I couldn't stop the smile that came to my face. "Er…sorry, I just, wanted to do that for a wihle," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck and blushed.

"You don't need to apologize."


	12. I Think We Have an Emergency

Chapter 12: I Think We Have An Emergency

**Chapter 12: I Think We Have an Emergency**

At the end of the night, Joe took Rebel back to the White House. As they got to the door, Joe leaned in to kiss her. As the mental image of Jason flooded into her brain, anger and guilt built up inside of her. As she quickly thought over it, the anger out weighed the guilt. She put her finger up to Joe's lips and tried to put on her most flirtatious smile.

"You can come in if you want." she glanced up at him, pulling her hand back.

"Okay," Joe said as Rebel took her keys out of her pocket and put the hot pink key into the lock. She walked into complete darkness. A sigh of relief swept over her. '_My fan girl mother won't be here, thank God,' _she thought. She twisted the light dimmer up a little where there was light, but it was still a little dark. She walked over and sat on the couch, "Come on Jonas," she said, a smile escaping her lips. Joe walked over and sat beside her, gently putting an arm around her.

"I had a great time tonight." he said.

"Me too." she smiled.

"Would you want to, uh," he paused, "see me again?"

Rebel smiled, "Of course."

"What would you say if I asked you to be my girlfriend?" he said.

His mind then caught up with his words, "Uh, if it's not too soon, or if you're still hanging on to that Jackson guy or whatever."

"Jason," Rebel rolled her eyes, "And…" she thought. She hadn't officially broken up with Jason yet, although it was inevitable, he had been spending more time with Meena, and to be honest with herself, she was falling quite hard for Joe.

"Uh…" she paused, "I'd say yes."

"Awesome!" he said loudly. A blush formed on his cheeks as he sat back down and looked away from her nervously. Rebel smiled at him. They sat in silence for a few moments before Joe looked at her. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure"

"Would you be like seriously put off if I kissed you?"

Rebel's mouth hung slightly agape, "Wow."

"I understand if you don't want to…"

"No, that's fine. You can kiss me, I don't care." she said with a laugh.

Joe leaned in and pressed his lips gently to hers. Rebel's breath hitched in her throat the second their lips touched. The kiss seemed so different than one she had shared with Jason, or Newt even.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as they both fell back onto the couch. When they broke apart, Rebel looked into his brown eyes. Suddenly, a flashback hit her of her and Jason the night that he had spent the night when Mack was in a coma. She looked at Joe, her eyes widened and a look of worry coming across her face.

"What? What did I do? Sorry by the way if it was me," he said.

"No, no, it wasn't you at all, you're perfect, it's me," she paused and then looked over her left shoulder, "I'll be back in a second, just hold o…up."

Joe lifted himself from his position of being over Rebel. She got up and held back her tears as she walked back to her bathroom and slid the door to what she thought was closed.

She quickly went over to where the toilet was and dissolved into tears. She loved Joe and Jason a lot, and she didn't want to hurt Jason because they'd been friends forever, but Joe was, as she had said, 'Joe-freaking-Jonas' and he could have any girl in the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain if he wanted. She wiped her eyes and then looked down into the basin. She took a deep breath and then pushed her finger into the back of her throat and forced herself to get sick again.

Back in the living room, Joe sat on the couch patiently waiting for Rebel's return. He looked at the clock over the mantle anxiously, she had been in there nearly ten minutes, and he knew, that even for a girl, that couldn't be good.

He slowly walked down the hallway to the bathroom. He heard nearly silent sobs. He walked closer to the door, noticing it was still slightly open. He looked inside and found Rebel forcing herself sick. Joe let his gasp hang in mid air as he backed up and walked back into the living room shaking his head.

"_The one girl I think that may be perfect for me, and she's doing this. I can't believe it." _he said.

He grabbed a piece of paper and a pen off the small dining room table and wrote down-

_Rebel-_

_My brother's called. I needed to be at the hotel where they could fax me some new lyrics where I could learn them before I get back on tour tomorrow._

_See you soon,_

_Joe_

"She's never gonna buy that!" he said quietly as he re-read the note. The sound of the toilet flushing jerked him out of his focus. He quickly stuck the note on the couch, grabbed his jacket and headed out the door. Rebel came back out to find no one.

"Joe?" she said, "You there?" She walked over to the couch and saw the note. "Weird." she said, "Okay." She stuck the note in her pocket and went back to her room. She grabbed her phone and called Mack.

"Hello?" Mack said.

"Hey girl hey!" Rebel said happily.

"What got shoved up your butt?" she replied.

"Nothing," she paused, "That I know of. Anyway, do you want to hear about me and Joe?"

"I have a feeling my answer doesn't matter in this at all," Mack said with a laugh.

"Ding, ding, ding!" Rebel said with a smile. "We have a winner!"

"Proceed." Mack said after a couple of second, Rebel guessed she was getting comfortable on her bed, ready for a long conversation.

"Okay, so at dinner, we got attacked by photogs, so we went for a walk and then he we got a ride home and when we got back, I let him come inside and…"

"I do not even want to know what happened after that!" Mack gasped.

"No!" Rebel gasped, "It's not like that, I swear." She paused to hear Mack let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, so first he told me he wanted to go out with me again, and then he asked me to be his girlfriend, and…"

"Woah, hold up!" Mack suddenly shouted, interrupting her.

"What? Why?" Rebel asked in confusion.

"Have you broken up with Jason yet? I mean like have you actually told him you two were over?"

"Have you told Newt?"

"Shut up, this isn't your question time, this is mine, so?"

Rebel sighed, "No."

"Then technically aren't you doing the same thing as Jason was doing to you?" Mack asked slowly.

Rebel felt tears coming to her eyes, "I'm worse."

"Why?" Mack groaned, not sure what she was going to say.

"I kissed him Mack, I practically made out with Joe Jonas behind Jason's back. I'm a terrible person." she cried.

Mack sighed dramatically, "You aren't a horrible person, you just, cheated a bit, but that doesn't make you that bad, all you really need to do is tell Jason you're sorry. Well, that is if you still like him."

"I'm torn. Joe is so gorgeous, and funny, and such, such, such a good kisser. _Man_, he's a good kisser."

"I GET THE POINT! MOVE ON!" Mack exclaimed. Rebel laughed a little.

"Fine, gosh. Anyway, and Jason's sweet, but he's a little creepy sometimes, seriously. He's been my best friend for years, he's an okay kisser, Newt's a better kisser than him and Craig Burkawitz is…."

"How many guys have you made out with? Sheesh!" Mack said in disbelief.

"Oh, you didn't even let me tell you about Baxter," Rebel said smugly.

Mack's jaw dropped, "Ew.."

"Just kidding!" Rebel laughed, "That is hurl on a field trip in front of your whole class gross. Seriously, never!"

Mack sighed in relief, "Good to know."

"Anyway, I don't know who I like better." she said.

"Think about it for a few days, but do not go out with either of them until. That includes making out with them. Well, if you want to make out with Newt again, be my guest my friend, I'd much rather him hang all over you again then have him up my butt all day. Plus you two would be perfect for each other, blonde, musically inclined, and extremely slow." she said.

"Hey!" Rebel gasped, "I told you, I'm over him, he's like my guy BFF now. Duh."

"Whatever tom girl, just keep your boys separated if you want to play Johnnie Tucker." she said.

"Don't you mean John Tucker?" Rebel said.

"I made it a girl name, you know," Mack groaned, "Why am I explaining this?"

"Because I'm your bestie and you want me to be as smartical as possible!" Rebel grinned.

"Sure, let's go with that," Mack replied as she hung up the phone.

The next day, Rebel walked into school in a black shirt that had "Party Like A Rockstar" on it and a pair of white Bermuda shorts with a pink and brown striped beanie on her head. She was at her locker when she felt someone attack her from behind.

"Matt if that's you, you better run before I taze the living hell out of you!" she said.

"Woah, dudette, someone woke up on the left side of the bed this morning!"

Rebel turned around to see Newt standing behind her with a distant look on his face.

"Don't you mean 'wrong' side of the bed?" she asked as she rose an eyebrow.

"No, because I sleep on the right so…"

"Technically, the left is the wrong side." Rebel said. Newt nodded happily. Rebel gasped, "That is so freaky! I'm starting to be able to understand you. I seriously need to find some better friends."

"Aw, you're my best friend too dudette," Newt grabbed Rebel in a rib crushing hug.

"NEWT!" she gasped, "I am like one time smaller than you and I'm petite, don't kill me!"

He let go of her and smiled, "You rock!"

"I know!" Rebel grinned.

"I wanted to ask you something?" Newt said hesitantly as he looked around.

"What?" Rebel asked as she crossed her arms.

"I want Mack back. I love her. She's the cheese to my macaroni. Please help me."

"You saw Juno too?" Rebel couldn't help but smile.

"THAT MOVIE WAS AWESOME!" Newt exclaimed.

"I know right!" Rebel said, "Anyway, back to business, I don't know how you could get her back, dude. She's pretty pissed at you."

"What did I do?" he asked.

"You've been smothering her. Her words, not mine." she said.

"How?" Newt asked in confusion.

"I don't know. I don't see it, but she does." Rebel said.

"Will you find out for me?" Newt begged.

"Fine." Rebel said, shutting her locker and walking away. Rebel walked to Mack's locker to find Matt at his beside hers. "Where's your sister?"

"Hey there beautiful, what's up with you this morning? Oh, and how can I help you," he paused, "_If you know what I mean."_

Rebel's jaw dropped, "Ew! You are so gross! Where's your sister!?"

"Bathroom."

"Thank you!" Rebel smirked.

"See yah baby." Matt said.

Rebel faked gagging as she walked in the direction of the girl's room. She walked in to see Mack standing at the sink, sliding her razor over her wrist.

"Mack!" Rebel gasped.

Mack turned around with a glare, "You…what are you doing here?"

"I came to find you, I didn't, why are you?" she cried.

"Look, I don't get into your life and you aren't going to get into mine."

"Why are you doing this again?"

"None of your business."

"You're my friend, so doesn't that make it my business?"

"No, go back to your Jonas Brother."

"MACK!" Rebel exclaimed.

"Look, I know your secret." Mack said.

"I know that you know about Joe…"

"Not that one."


	13. Misery Loves Company

**Chapter 13: Misery Loves Company**

"What're you talking about?" Rebel demanded as she crossed her arms over her chest. Mack just sighed as she turned on the faucet and stuck her arm under the water. Rebel watched as the water turned red before slipping down the drain. She dabbed at her arm with a paper towel before wrapping her arm in a bandage and pulling on her arm warmer. She flexed her fingers in the fingerless part while the rest covered her palms and ran up to her elbow. She then turned to Rebel with a neutral look on her face.

"I know that you make yourself sick," Mack responded. "I just want to know why you would do that to yourself."

"I could say the same thing," Rebel shot back.

"You explain and then I will," Mack offered as she held out her hand.

"Pinky promise?" Rebel asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't Pinky Promise," Mack responded. "I Thumb Promise. Pinkys are too weak and their grip can break easily, which signifies the fact that pinky promises can be broken easily. Thumbs are stronger which means the promise won't and can't be broken that easily."

"Thumb promise then," Rebel said as she rolled her eyes before hooking thumbs with Mack. "What do I look like to you?" She asked.

"You look like Rebel, my best friend, surprisingly," Mack responded in a confused tone as she scratched her head. "Not too muscular but not too scrawny."

"That's what you see?" Rebel asked in amazement. "Everytime I look in the mirror I see Tracy staring back at me."

"Tracy?" Mack repeated.

"You know, that big girl from Hairspray with Zac Efron."

"Is that the same movie with John Travolta as a girl? I always thought that was really weird Good thing I didn't go and see it." Rebel glared at Mack who finished her rant. "Reb, you don't look like Tracey at all. You're the perfect size for our age group. If you don't believe me, ask Matt."

"Matt's a perv, I don't trust what he has to say," Rebel said in a dismissive tone.

"Does this, by any chance, have to do with you leaving Jason to go to a certain JoBro?" Mack asked as she shifted slightly so she was standing in Rebel's line of vision. When she didn't answer Mack let out another sigh. "Rebel."

"You see how he's practically all over Meena!" Rebel hissed. "And he wouldn't even admit to me that he still likes her. He must've seen the real me, a girl who's fat, has chubby-cheeks, and a large rear-end. It's no wonder he stalks her all of the time."

"Rebel, you're the same size as me," Mack said as she grabbed her friend by the shoulders and shook her. "You're a big idiot if you think that's why things between you have been as rocky as the Grand Canyon."

"Then what other factor is there?" Rebel demanded. "Meena's prettier than me."

"Reb, you have to stop comparing yourself to other people," Mack interrupted her. "Jason saw you for the real you: witty, fun to be around, good sense in style, a good friend.

"What he saw as an illusion," Rebel said as she shook her head. "And that image shattered." She shook her head as she said more to herself than to Mack, "I can't help but still like him, although I don't know who to choose." She looked at herself in the mirror before turning to Mack and asking, "Why'd you start cutting again?"

"You only change the subject to get the attention off of you," Mack said as she rolled her eyes. "A couple of reasons."

"Not me again, I hope," Rebel said as she looked at Mack. "Because you're my only girl BFF, Meena's not really there yet."

"You didn't do anything," Mack said as she shook her head. "It's Mom again, and Newt partly, but mostly Mom. Matt, Maxie, and Dad have all accepted the fact that I had stayed away from them to help myself but Mom blew up at me saying I was stupid for staying somewhere else without them knowing where." Her eyes hardened as she continued. "Mom and I got into another argument; she dissed you and Meena, Baxter, Livingston, and Stickler. If Matt hadn't jumped in I would've…well, I don't know what I would've done, but it wouldn't have been a good thing."

"And Newt?" Rebel pressed.

"He suffocated me," Mack responded. "He was way too clingy and always there, I just couldn't stand being around him anymore."

"You miss him," Rebel accused. "You miss the fact that someone in your family cared about you, that's why you had that argument with your Mom." Before Mack could respond the bell rang, signaling that class was going to start. Without saying a word the two turned and made their way out of the bathroom. "I'll meet you in class, I have to take care of something first." Mack nodded as Rebel went over to the lockers were Newt was still getting his things. "You're going to have to do a lot to get her back."

"I'll do anything," Newt said as he closed his locker and turned to look at her.

"There are three things you have to do: give her space, try to win over her parents, make her feel special," Rebel said as she counted off her fingers. "She hasn't said much about it, but from what I've heard her past relationships ended in bad ways and she's afraid to get hurt again so she ended it before she could."

"Thanks dudette," Newt said before he rushed off to class. Rebel turned away and rushed to her class, managing to sit down in her chair right as the teacher came in. a note went flying over her shoulder and landed on her desk. She opened it and read the messy handwriting:

_I need your help with Meena._

_Cory_

'_God, why does everyone pay so much attention to her?'_ Rebel thought as he crushed the paper in her grip. She tried to pay attention during the rest of class but she could feel Jason's eyes burning holes in her back. She let out a sigh as she doodled in the margin of her paper. _'I still don't know who to choose. I really, really, really like Joe but Jason is always here.'_

After class was over Rebel practically launched herself from her seat and ran out the front door. She raced down the hall, her messenger bag slapping at her side as she tried to get to the lockers as fast as she could.

"Good, you're still here," Rebel said when she saw that Mack was putting her books in her locker and Matt was standing by waiting. It sort of got on Rebel's nerves that Matt was always around but she brushed it off.

"Something up?" Mack asked as she closed her locker to look at Rebel. Before she could answer Meena came up with a somewhat confused look on her face.

"Hey Meena, what's with the face? It's taking away from your beautiful features," Matt said as he flashed her a charming smile.

"Well…it's just that Cory kind of…asked me out," Meena responded.

"It's about time!" Matt, Rebel, and Mack all said in unison as they threw their arms into the air. Meena gave them a confused look as they sighed and shook their heads.

"What?" Meena asked in confusion.

"Hello? Earth to Paroom," Rebel said as she rapped her knuckles on Meena's forehead. "Cory is, like, in love with you."

"What? No he's not," Meena said as she shook her head. "We're just friends."

"Yeah, to you," Mack corrected her. "Cory likes you, it's so obvious. He stares at you in class and makes up these stupid schemes to try and impress you. So, where'd he ask you?"

"To the dance," Meena responded.

"What dance?" Rebel and Mack asked in unison.

"You two are more alike than I thought," Matt said as he rolled his eyes before turning them around and pointing to a poster that advertised a dance that was being held Friday. It said that the band was going to be a surprise, too. "So did you say yes or no?"

"I told him I'd think about it," Meena responded. "I mean, I never thought of Cory in a different way…and Candy has been telling me how she was going to ask her so…"

"Candy needs to find someone as perky as her," Matt interrupted. "And remember, if you don't feel comfortable going with Baxter, I'm always free."

"Leave!" Mack barked. "Now!"

"Ok," he said as he held up his hands. "I'll see you later."

"_Much_ later, hopefully!" Rebel called after him.

"I'll see you two later, I need to go think," Meena said with a small wave as she walked down the hall. She paused turned around and said, "Hey Samuels, Stickler really does miss you. Give him another chance, at least think about it."

"Whatevs," Rebel said as she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, you and I are ditching."

"Not that I don't want to, but why?" Mack asked. "Usually you like staying, for some unknown reason."

"I just…need to get out of here; can you get your driver to get us? Mom would find out if I got Kyle to come and pick me up."

"Yeah, hold on." Mack called a driver from the White House to come and get them, saying they'd meet him out front. They ducked into the bathroom when the bell rang. They stepped out and looked around to make sure it was clear before running out to the front door of the school and to the limo that was waiting for them. As they got in Rebel's phone started to ring. "Joe?"

"Yeah," Rebel responded. "Should I answer it?"

"I would."

"Ok." Rebel hesitated before pressing TALK on her phone. "Hey," she said softly.

"Hey you," Joe said back. "I've been trying to reach you."

"Yeah, I keep my phone off during school except for lunch so…" Rebel let her voice trail off. "Ummm, what's up?"

"I just wanted to make sure things between us were still cool," he responded as he sighed a little. "I'm sorry for leaving early before but I really did have to see my bros and…"

"I understand completely," Rebel said as she tried to ignore Mack who was staring at her. "You were busy."

"Yeah, but I still want to make time for my girlfriend." He paused. "Er…if you still want to be, that is. I mean, I don't want you to do something you're not comfortable doing."

"I think I can handle your life, Jonas," Rebel said as she rolled her eyes.

"You're on," Joe said with a laugh. "I'll call you later, I have to go now."

"All right, bye." Rebel looked up and laughed at the sour look that was on Mack's face as she jabbed at the buttons on her phone. "Livingston?"

"Yup," Mack responded as she threw down her phone. "When is he going to understand that I don't want to have anything to do with him?" She let out a growl of frusteration when her phone started ringing again. "WHAT?" She barked into the phone. Her face quickly shifted from annoyance to worry. "_What_? When? Uh huh…uh huh…I'll be right there."

"What's up?" Rebel asked.

"Something happened at Sophie's school, we have to get there now," Mack responded before replaying the message to the driver.


	14. Say Goodnight and Goodbye?

**Chapter 14: Say Goodnight and Goodbye?**

"What?" Rebel gasped.

"Yeah, the principal said there were two guys with guns in the school and the whole place went under lock down." Mack replied.

"Oh my gosh, is everything okay?" Rebel said.

"That's what we're going to find out." Mack said as they got in the limo.

Rebel's phone rang wildly. She answered it quickly.

"Hello, yeah, Joe, I can't talk right now, it's a bit of an emergency, yeah everything's fine. Look, I cannot talk right now, I have got to go, I'll call you back later!"

She hung up the phone and looked at Mack with a sigh as they pulled up in the parking lot of Sophie's school.

There were police officers everywhere and President Martinez's limo was blocking a few cars from getting out.

"This place looks like a freaking zoo!" Rebel said as they got out of the car. Rebel and Mack walked up to the front doors but were cut off by two big police officers.

"No one can enter or exit right now." one of them said.

"No, we're with the president." Mack said.

"Yeah right, we've heard that all day, how do you think we're in this mess?"

"No," Rebel began, "You don't understand," she began to dig through her purse until she found a pink, sparkly business card holder and flipped it open showing a huge gold star placed ontop of a card.

"I'm Rebel M. Samuels, Jr. CIA, under the adminsitration of J. Stickler the first." she said smartly, with one hand placed on her hip.

"Yeah, what's that, your girl scout badge?" one of the police officers laughed.

"Dare to look again?" Rebel said, thrusting out the card again.

The police officer on the right took the pink case and looked at it in deep thought. He gestured to the other officer and gestured for him to come over.

They looked at each other and nodded, "You look legit. We'll let you in, but your friend..."

"She has a taser and is trainee of the Jr. CIA, under the administration of J. Stickler the second and me." she said confidantly.

The officer rolled his eyes, "Fine."

"If you want proof, I can show you a taser, mase, grappling hook, whatever you want. You'd be surprised what I can fit in a purse." Rebel said.

"Just go!" Mack said, shoving her forward.

They walked into the school where other police officers stood around talking and checking for fingerprints.

"I'd keep your badge at hand if I were you." Mack said.

"I'm already ahead of you," she said, flashing that the card holder was dangling from her wrist on a wristlet.

"Now we've got to find the Prez."

"Exactley."

"I'd assume he'd be in Sophie's classroom." Rebel said.

"Duh, you think." Mack said as they headed up a set of stairs to the third grade classroom.

There were secret service men all over and police officers too.

Rebel walked up to one of the secret service men.

"What's up Jack? Remember me, I accidentally spilt a frappuchino on the West Wing while I was down there unsupervised, and you slipped on it. Yeah, I'm here on official," she flashed her card, "Business."

Jack sighed as he got a message on his earphone, "Yeah, you're wanted inside."

"Peace out." Rebel said as they walked into the classroom. President Martinez was talking to the teacher and some FBI officers while Sophie was hiding behind him and all the other kids were sitting in the floor looking scared.

"It's like someone died." Rebel said.

Mack nodded.

"Girls, I'm glad your here." President Martinez said walking over to them.

Rebel and Mack nodded.

"I want you to take Sophie home and Rebel, call Jason and get him to send his father's best down here ASAP. You can stay if you want."

Rebel made a face of utter displeasure as she nodded.

"Sophie, go with Mackenzie and Rebel, there's a limo waiting for you. Be careful." he said.

Sophie nodded. She looked over at the girls with her bottom lip still shaking.

Rebel rolled her eyes, "Come on," she held out her arms and picked Sophie up.

"Dang girl, you're heavy." she said, "This is when I wish I was less compassionate, more like Mack."

Mack looked over at her out of the corner of her eye, "Shut the...,"

"Children." Rebel said teasingly.

"Be quiet!" Mack hissed as they walked out of the classroom.

When they got in the limo, Rebel pulled out her phone and stared at it.

"What are you gonna tell Joe?" Mack said.

"It's not Joe, It's Jason, I don't want to call him."

"This is on business, not personal, just do it."

"Fine."

She pushed speed dial number two and waited.

"Rebel?" Jason said as he picked up, sounding shocked and hopeful.

"Yeah, don't get so excited, look, this is on CIA business buddy, so go ahead and put your tail between your legs and listen, those big dudes from two months ago are back, the ones after Sophie. They came to her school with guns and tried to attack but they ran when the police showed, meaning, they are still out there, President Martinez wanted me to tell you to get your dad to round up his best team and send them down there now!" Rebel said.

"Okay," Jason sighed.

There was an awkward silence before Jason said, "Will you come too?"

"Hold on."

She looked over at Mack and covered up the reciever, "He wants me to stay and go in there with them."

"Don't you dare!" Mack said.

Rebel nodded and put the phone back up to her ear and harsly said, "Be a man and go in there yourself Jason! Sheesh!"

"I'm sorry." Jason said.

"For what?" Rebel said in the same tone as before.

"Everything."

With that, Jason hung up the phone and the dial tone began playing again. Rebel sat there with her mouth open.

"What did he say?" Mack said.

"I told him to go in there and act like a man, then he just randomly blurted out 'I'm sorry.' and then," tears filled up in Rebel's eyes, "I asked him for what he said, 'Everything' and hung up the phone.

Rebel sat there silently as Mack stared at her, unable to find words.

"You know what Rebel," Sophie said, "You can say you love Joe as many times as you want, but you know like I know that you love Jason more than him. As gross and wrong as that sounds."

Rebel laughed and shook her head at Sophie, "Since when did you become the love doctor?"

"Always have been, girl." Sophie said.

"She's right," Mack said, "Weirdly, she is. Do you like Jason more or Joe? You need to make a descision. Yeah, you're going to hurt someone, but you need to find the one you'll be happy with."

"Jason's known me for so long. It's like it's meant to be..."

Sophie cut her off, "Like the Jonas Brothers' song," she started to sing, "Everyone knows it's meant to be, fallin' in love just you and me..."

"Sophie, please don't bring the Jonas Brothers into this." Rebel said, "This is going to gross you out beyond total reason, so I'm giving you a warning, but he knows me so well he know how and where I'd like to be kissed at the appropriate timing and everything. It's insane."

Mack made a face, "Yeah, I'm a little sicked out now, but continue."

"I think it's sweet." Sophie said.

"That's because you're sick." Mack said.

"Am not!" Sophie said.

"Okay you two, stop it!" Rebel said, "And with Joe, I mean I'll say this again and again..."

"He's Joe-freaking-Jonas." Mack said with her.

Rebel laughed and rolled her eyes, "Anyway, he's so hot, and he can sing and his eyes are killer, and he just has this adorkable way about him. Oh, and he just oozes sexy. He had known me for a week and he kissed me so flawlessly. God." Rebel sighed.

"Here's my take on this, you're in love with Jason and in crazed lust with Joe." Mack said, "Crazed, do you hear me?"

"What's lust?" Sophie asked.

"Not right now!" Mack said harsly.

"I don't like that." Rebel said, "I want to love Joe, not Jason."

The limo pulled up at the White House.

"Let's ask your mom." Sophie said.

"No!" Rebel said, "She kinda doesn't know that I'm dating two guys at once, well, sort of, anyway, I seriously think I'd be in trouble if she knew. There has got to be another way."

"I've got it!" Sophie said, "I'll take you to the best advice giver in the whole White House."

A few minutes later, Mack found herself in the White House kitchen with Chef Victor and Cory.

"What are you guys doing here?" Cory said.

"Rebel needs advice." Sophie said.

"Sophie!" Rebel groaned.

"Oh, about Jonas and Stickler, oh please, the whole world knows about that, why can't something new happen around here, dang!" Cory said as he grabbed his Young Entrepenuer magazine off the table and walked into the living room.

"So what's your problem, exactley?" Chef Victor said, not looking up from the cake he was decorating.

"You cannot be serious." Rebel said.

"Definatley, I'm down with you kids."

"No way, I'd rather keep walking around in mental circles than do this!" Rebel said.

"Reb, you won't know until you try."

"Fine, me and Jason had a fight." she began.

"Fight, okay."

"Then, we never officially broke up and..."

"What's officially breaking up anyway."

"I tell him it's over and give these," she put Jason's dog tag on the table, "back, and get my sterling silver princess ring back."

"Why does he have it?"

"He wears it on a chain, anyway," Rebel rubbed her temples dramatically, "then Joe Jonas, the Joe Jonas..."

"Of the Jonas Brothers!" Chef Victor gasped, "No way!"

"Yes, way. He asked me out. I went out with him and he kissed me and yeah, I felt bad, because I was technically cheating on Jason and he knows about me going out with Joe and he's upset because he thinks I hate him, and I don't, but then when I called today just to ask about CIA inforcement at Sophie's school he ended our conversation by saying he was sorry for everything and hanging up the phone. What do I do?" she said.

Victor dropped the icing tube and looked at Rebel, "How can you go around feeling like that? I'm surprised you haven't exploded or something by now. Seriously, why don't you talk to your mom, I'm not good with these things. I wasn't good with my daughter Raven and I don't know what to do about Jason. Here's a thought, talk to Jason, or Joe for the matter and talk it out."

"No way."

"Then I can't help you." he said.

"Thanks anyway." she said.

"Here's my thoughts." Cory said, walking back into the room.

"What have I told you about eavesdropping?" Mr. Baxter said.

"These, are my friends." Cory draped his arms around both girls, "And I have to help."

Rebel and Mack scooted away from Cory and glared, "And like I said," he said nervously, "Yeah, I think you should dump Stickler."

"That's because you hate him." Rebel said.

"So what?" Cory said.

"That doesn't help." Rebel said slowly.

"Here's my idea." Newt said, coming through the same door. He opened his mouth to speak but then got distracted by Mack who was attempting to scoot out the back door, "Hey Mack! What up dudette?"

"A. That's my nickname, and B. Idea please, NOW!" Rebel said.

"Okay, you love Stickler. It's obvious. You guys have been fighting for too long, and whenever he looks at you, he has this 'Come back, please.' look on his face and it's obvious in the way that you look at him that you want him too. Give up on Joe. He probably has another girl waiting in line for him anyway. Yeah, what about Mandy? He wrote a song for her, and we haven't heard anything out of her in years. I say Mandy could be on the other line just waiting for Joe to dump you. Get back with Stickler, dudette." Newt said.

Mack, Cory, and Rebel both looked at him with a weirded out expression on their faces.

"Newt, Newt, Newt," Rebel began, "Mandy is never gonna happen. She's dating some random dude from another band and even though he probably does have a whole list of girls for after me, I still kind of like him okay. Jason, yeah, I'll always have such strong feelings for him because I liked him for so long, but he was such an ass, sorry Chef Victor, about this whole Meena thing. I say we all blame Meena. Goodnight and Goodbye!" she said, slamming her hand on the table.

"No." Newt shook his head.

"Aw Man," Rebel said, "I hate that we understand each other now. It's really scary."

Newt smiled brightly at her and then diverted his attention at Mack, "Why didn't you call me back?"

"I don't know, I couldn't reach my phone and I was helping Rebel with her obnoxious problem so I didn't have a chance. Get over it." she said.

"Whatever." Newt said.

"We're all in bigger trouble than we thought." Chef Victor said,


	15. I Just Don't Want to Waste Another Day

**Chapter 15 - I Just Don't Want to Waste Another Day**

**Rebel's POV**

"I know someone who gives awesome advice," Mack suddenly said as she snapped her fingers.

"Better than me!?" Chef Victor asked in a hurt tone.

"Sorry, but she's a whole lot better, don't take this personally," Mack said before grabbing my wrist. "You're coming with me Sophie. You may be back home but i still have to keep an eye on you, unfortunatley."

"Fine," Sophie sighed as he rolled her eyes. Mack forcibly dragged me out of the kitchen as Sophie followed us close behind. She led us out of the Baxter home and dragged us all the way to the floor that held the Montgomery place. She unlocked the door and went in, trying to rush her way past her parents.

"Hey sweetie," Mr. Montgomery, who i knew as Michael, stopping Mack in her tracks and causing me to crash into her. Sometimes I hated how the Montgomerys names all started with an M but I got used to it.

"Heyyyy Dad," she said with a cheerful wave. I could feel the hostility fill the air when Mack looked at her mother. "Mom," she said shortly before pulling me out of the room once more. "Don't say a word, Samuels," she growled before I could open my mouth. She entered her room and pulled us inside before turning around a swivel chair that her little sister Max was sitting in. "Here's the run down: Rebel likes both Jason and Joe and she can't choose who to be with."

"Ok, write a list about all the things Joe knows about you and vice versa and then do the same for Jason. Whoever has the most then it's obvious that that's the one you're supposed to be with," Max said simply.

"She's a genious for a little kid," Mack said with a shrug as i turned to look at her.

"And you," she added as she turned to look at her big sister," You have to take Newt back. He made you happy and trust me, you are not happy."

"And sometimes she doesn't know when to shut her mouth," Mack growled through clenched teeth. "Where's Stalker anyway?"

"He's out with Meena I think," Max responded before turning to look at the computer screen once more. She reached over and grabbed the two pieces of paper before handing them to me with a pen. Sighing, i sat down at Mack's desk and did as I was told. I tried to pay attention but the blasting music from Mack's Simple Plan CD made it hard for me to concentrate, especially since she kept singing along to it as she played her guitar. All I have to say is thank GOD that the guitar wasn't plugged in.

"And the verdict is?" Sophie asked as she looked over my shoulder.

"Looks like Jason won, what a surprise," Mack muttered sarcastically. "There's the answer to your problem. Go back to Jason, although it is weird seeing a stiff like him and perk like you together. Oh well."

"And onto the next problem," Max said as she whirled around and started pointedly at Mack. "Why are you depriving yourself happiness? This is exactly what you did last time."

"Max!" Mack hissed in a warning tone but I could tell that she had all ready let something important slip. I just noticed that I knew practically nothing about Mack and she's my so-called best friend: she loves the color blue, she loves to dance and play the guitar, she loves Simple Plan, and she loves her siblings. That's about all I knew. She never told me specifically why she and her mom never got along or why she had moved to DC in the first place.

"I'm hungry," Sophie spoke up, breaking the silence. "Let's see if Chef Victor will make us something." Max agreed and started to leave the room. "Wait!" Sophie shouted. "Girl, I like your braids. Where'd you get them done?"

"Oh, Newt did it for me," Max said with a smile that lit up her blue and her green eye. "Who knew that he could actually do something useful?"

I waited for the two girls to leave the room before I looked at Mack. "What did Max mean by that? And it just occured to me that i don't know much about you as I thought. I mean, why did you move here?"

"It doens't matter now," Mack said as she shook her head. "And forget about what Maxie said, she doesn't hear herself sometimes. She may be smart but there's also a dumb side to her." She glanced down at her pocket when her phone started to ring and she took it out to see who it was. Instantly she threw it onto her bed. "Come on, let's get something to eat and then we can spy on my brother while he's on his date."

"How can you do that?" I asked.

"It's amazing what a little girl can invent," she said with an evil grin. She quickly left the room as I glanced at her phone. Like I thought, Newt was calling her. I shook my head and sighed a little before following her out of the room, crushing the peice of paper in my fist.

--

**Normal POV**

"I don't know what else to do to help you, man," Cory said as he crushed his soda can in his hand. He and Newt were sitting in Newt's basement, hanging out and watching TV. Newt wasn't paying attention and kept sighing about every five minutes and it ended up getting on Cory's nerves. "If she doesn't like you anymore then you can't force her to like you."

"But...I don't know what I did wrong," Newt said as he sighed once more. "Everything was fine, I mean, even my parents got used to her being around. Was it something I said to her?"

"Well...what did you say to her?" Cory asked as he shut off the TV.

"Just music stuff, and some things about cheese, and some things about how awesome macaroni and cheese was," Newt said as he rubbed his chin in thought. "Oh yeah, I also said I loved her and-"

"You WHAT!?" Cory shouted, causing Newt to jump. "Newt, you just don't tell a girl you love her out of the blue! I mean, she might not love you back. And...we're only in the eigth grade! How can you love her?"

"I know how I feel," Newt shot back. "It's...like how you feel about Meena. Which remindes me, did you know that Matt's on a date with her?"

"Dang!" Cory shouted as he threw his hands into the air. "I cannot let this happen. They'll look into each other's eyes and fall in love and get married and have two kids and live in a three story house with a white fence and a pool in the backyard and they'll live happily getting money off of their kids jobs!" He turned to Newt. "Newt, you know her better than I do. Give me advice on how to get her to be my girlfriend."

"What will I get out of it?" Newt asked as he crossed his arms.

"I'll help you get Mack back," Cory responded.

"You promise?"

"I promise, dude."

"Deal," Newt said as they shook hands. "But...we're going to need Sticklers help first."

"Stickler? Why?" Cory asked as he wrinkled his nose.

"We're going to need to spy and Stickler's the best at spying."

--

"That...was a big...disaster!" Cory said as he and Newt slowly walked into Washington Prep. "Sitting in a thorn bush for two hours only to jump out when i thought Meena and Matt were going to kiss. I ripped the seat of my pants, got thorns in my arms, and made a fool of myself in front of my enemy."

"But you do that on a daily basis with Stickler," Newt pointed out.

"Not helping Newt," Cory said as he rolled his eyes.

"What happened to you two?" Rebel asked with a laugh as she and Mack walked up, smirking. They were dressed somewhat alike that day: They both wore knit beanies on their heads, a t-shirt over a long sleeved shirt, shorts, and shoes. Mack's hat was black and blue, her t-shirt was blue, her long-sleeved shirt was gray, she wore cargo shorts, and black vans. Rebel's hat was pink and white, her t-shirt was pink, her long-sleeved shirt was white, she wore gray capris, and pink wedge heels. "You look like you've been crouching in a thorn bush for two hours."

"You were spying on Meena too?" Newt asked.

"I still can't believe that you two did that!" Meena said angirly as she stomped over to Cory and Newt. "From now on, stay out of my personal buisness!"

"Oh there you are, C-Bear!" Candy's annoying voice cut through the air as she came over. "Where were you last night?"

"Spying on me!" Meena responded. Candy got a hard look on her face as Cory winced, waiting for his punishment.

"Coming Daddy!" He shouted and rushed off as Meena stomped away. Candy huffed and followed Cory leaving Newt with the two girls.

"Hey, I'll catch you in class. I gotta talk to Matt," Mack said as she nudged Rebels arm and went to find her brother. As she walked down the hall she started singing a Simple Plan song, "I just don't want to waste another day/I try to make things right but you shove it in my face/and all those things you've done to me I can't erase/And I can't keep this inside/It's time to say goodbye."

"Newt, don't be so discouraged," Rebel said as she rolled her eyes. "Matt's on my side," she added as she shoved Newt down the hall to where Mack dissappeared around the corner. "He'll make her talk to you."

"How?" Newt asked.

"By locking you two in the janitor's closet!" She said as she quickly shoved him inside. Matt closed the door and shoved a char underneath the handle in an angle so they couldn't come out. "If that doens't help them then I don't know what will."

"You know they're going to get detention because of this, right?" Matt asked as they rushed down the hall.

"That's the plan."


	16. Cause I Know We're Inseparable

**Chapter 16: 'Cause I Know We're Inseparable**

Mack heard Rebel's voice as Newt came flying into the closet and landing in her lap.

"Get the hell off of me!" she yelled, pushing him off and running to the door. She beat on it rapidly. No one came.

"You've got to be kidding me. I'm going to kill him." she said angrily, stomping her foot.

She looked over at Newt, who was looking at the ground sadly.

"Don't just stand there, get up and try to get this damn door open." she said.

Newt nodded solemnly. He tried spinning the handle rapidly and pulling and nothing happened.

"Do you have a bobbypin?" he asked.

Mack rolled her eyes, "Do I look like Rebel?"

"Kind of, you know, with the way you're dressed."

"Not like that! God, no Newt, I don't have a bobbypin." she exclaimed.

"Ooh," he said, pulling out his wallet and sighing unhappily.

"What?"

"My mom canceled my credit card."

"Hold on." Mack said, pulling out her wallet and getting out her White House identification card.

She slid it in the door, and then pulled at the handle. The door was stuck good.

"I cannot believe this!" Mack yelled.

Newt stared at her silently.

"What are you staring at?" she said.

"Nothing." he shrugged.

"Rebel said Matt was going to make you talk to me."

"I'm talking to you now aren't I, genius?"

Newt nodded with a frown.

"I really like you." he said.

"I'd really like for you to be quiet so I can figure a way out of this hell hole." she said.



"Sorry."

"Don't pull a Jason, just sit here and figure something out."

"Can we just talk about this?"

"No, unless you have a plan to get us out, then I don't want to hear anything out of you."

"Ooh!" Newt pulled out a black iPhone from his pocket.

Mack's jaw dropped, "I owe you," she ripped the phone out of his hands and tapped the screen with her finger.

A picture of an apple appeared then a battery with a caution emblem, then the screen went black.

"THE PHONE IS DEAD!" she yelled throwing the phone back at Newt. It hit him square in the chest. He put the phone back into his pocket as Mack took out hers.

She flipped through her contacts and quickly texted Jason, knowing he had his phone on vibrate, after seeing Rebel and him texting in the middle of English class.

"Me and Newt R N the janitor's closet. the door is locked. come get us out after 1st." she typed.

A few seconds later, Jason's reply came through.

"Matt told me. Not letting you out until you make up. Sorry."

She made a face and forwarded Cory the same message as Jason.

Cory replied too, "Not gettin U 2 out. U need to talk to each other. And Rebel would kill me."

She flipped her phone shut and threw it in the floor angrily. She stood up and jumped up and down angrily, with a high pitched squeal.

Newt gave her a weird look.

"I konw, very Rebel-like, but, honestly, what do we do? This is a distaster, a tragedy..."

"A quagmire of epic porportion." he replied.

She glared over at him and rolled her eyes. She sat down across from him and frowned.

"We're screwed."

Newt nodded.

The phone vibrated beside Newt. He picked it up and flipped it open, reading the new text.



"It's from Rebel, it says, 'Are you two made up yet? If you make up by 10:45, I'll come get you after third period. If not, you'll stay 'till after lunch. Love you mean it guys!'"

"She's gotta be joking." she said.

"Doesn't seem like it, and I agree with her."

"You worship the ground she walks on, why does that surprise me?"

"I do not worship the ground Rebel walks on."

"Oh please, if you aren't following me around, you're following her."

"So?" he said, "She's my best girl friend. As in, girl friend with a space between girl and friend."

"Shouldn't you put a huge X before the word girl friend?"

"Technically, she's not my ex, we had the eigth grade equivalent of a one night stand, we kissed..."

He got cut off, "By the way Rebel tells the story, you two made out."

Newt looked away and shook his head.

"She said she was on your lap."

"Oh yeah." he exclaimed, nodding, "I remember that now. Never mind, anyway, yeah, we, as you put it, made out, then she slept in the same bed as me but..."

"Woah! I'm actually glad she didn't tell me that."

"Nothing happened, her mom died, she didn't have anything, I felt bad." Newt said.

"Yeah, it is a pretty sad story."

"Why are you always mad at me?"

"Why jump the conversation?"

Newt shrugged, "Rebel, Matt, Jason, and Cory told me you said I was smothering you."

"You are."

"But you're still here, you know, breathing and stuff, and..."

"NOT LITERALLY!" she yelled.

"Oh, then how am I smothering you?" he asked.

"You don't give me enough space, you follow me and my friends around and stay up our asses all day and you ask the most annoying questions. I don't give a damn about cheese in a cup. I don't even really 

like cheese. Oh, and I've established the fact you play guitar okay, stop rambling on and on about it. You get along so well with Jason and Rebel because they are annoying as hell too. More so together, but apart too. You guys make it hard for me to breathe, not literally, as in for me to have space. Why am I telling you this?" she said.

"You know I care." he said.

"So what?"

"Mack, I care a lot about you, I want you to know that. I'm sorry for telling you I love you, It was crazy and I shouldn't have, it was bad, very bad." Newt said, "I really shouldn't have because it was way too early and..."

"Just be quiet, It gave me the creeps. No one tells me they love me that much except Max, and she's little and Rebel, she tells everyone she loves them 'cause she's weird like that. If we could go on with you giving me space and not being all lovey with me, I think we could be okay." she said.

"Why is it weird?" he said.

"It annoys me when couples are all, PDA..."

He opened his mouth as if he were going to ask a question.

"Public display of affection, Newt," she sighed, "It irritates me. I don't like it when guys try it on me and I don't like it when other people do it."

Newt nodded.

"Take this in, seriously, if you want anything to be different."

He nodded again.

"Another thing, don't sit so close to me. That's just creepy, it not only makes it obvious if we have problems, but it makes you look like a creeper. Stop it." she said.

"Okay," he paused, "Let me see, don't sit so close to you, don't follow you around, no stupid questions, talk about something different, and Rebel and Stickler need to stop PDAing."

Mack smiled a little and nodded, "You got it."

"Good."

"Are we?" he asked.

Mack frowned, "We'll see. Not right now."

"I can live with that." Newt said.



Mack's phone started beeping.

"I didn't hear it ring." she picked it up. Her jaw dropped.

"It's not beeping because there was a missed call. The battery's dead." she said.

"That's not good."

"Thank you Captain Obvious." she said. She ripped it open and began to text to Rebel quickly:

_"We made up come get us out now."_

Right as the message was sending the phone went blank. "No way!" Mack yelled, "No way! Come on, don't die." she beat the phone againt her hand.

"We're stuck, Newt, stuck for good."

"This is awesome!" he yelled.

"May I ask WHY?" she exclaimed.

"If I had to be stuck in a closet with anyone, I'm glad it was you." he smiled. Mack couldn't help but half smile back. "Unless Hannah Montana was a choice."

"Newt!"

"Sorry."

Meanwhile, Rebel was waiting outside her locker with her pink Razr in her hand, waiting for a text. She glanced up too see Jason standing at his locker, messing with some computer and then getting his books out. She bit her bottom lip and sighed as she walked over to him.

She stood silently until he shut his locker.

"Hey." she said quietly.

"Hey" he replied.

There was an awkward silence before Rebel said, "I'm sorry." Jason stared into her eyes and pursed his lips. He took her hands in his and looked at her again before pulling her into a hug.

She buried her face in his shoulder, "I'm sorry Jase, so sorry."

"I should be sorry not you." he said.

"I don't love Meena, Reb," he said, "I love you."

She smiled brightly, "I love you too."

"Come on, isn't it time to release the captives?" he smiled, taking her hand in his.

"I don't know, I haven't gotten a text from Mack yet." she said, "Let's go check on them." She led him over to the closet, moved the chair and said, "CIA, nobody move," dramatically as she swung the door open.

"Thank God!" Mack said.

"Are you two okay?" Both nodded. "No more fights?"

"We'll try." Mack said.

"Good, let's go."

As they walked down the hallway, Mack noticed Rebel and Jason. She tapped Rebel on the shoulder and gestured to their hands. Rebel bit her lip and smiled, nodding.Mack half smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Then something hit her. She tapped her again.

"What?" Rebel asked.

Mack mouthed a single word. '"Jonas?"


	17. Two Princes

**Chapter 17: Two Princes**

"Uhh, Jace, I need to talk to Mack for a little bit," Rebel said as she pulled her hand out of Jason's grasp.

"Ok, I'll see you at lunch then," he said with a small wave before continuing down the hallway.

"What about Joe?" Mack asked her once he was out of earshot.

"Not here," she said as she looked around. A thoughtful look came to her face as she sighed. "Do you want to skip?"

"It's me," Mack told her before dragging her down the hallway. Rebel laughed a little as she hurried to catch up with her friend's fast pace. They slipped past the offices and slipped out the front door where a limo was waiting for them. "That was fast."

"I have him on speed dial," Rebel explained before getting into the back of the limo. Mack followed close behind and closed the door behind herself. Rebel lifted the glass separator and turned on a Jonas Brothers CD.

"Joe? What about him? I thought you were head over heels for him. I mean, like you said, it's Joe freaking Jonas," Mack pointed out.

"I know…but Joe's never here and it's hard to have a long distance relationship," she responded. "And he travels the world all of the time while I'm stuck here? I don't think so."

"So you're giving him up? Just like that?" Mack asked with raised eyebrows.

"Uh, yeah," Rebel responded.

"Cool, so you wouldn't mind if I went after him?"

Rebel burst out laughing, her laughter was heard easily over the song that was playing. "Are you freaking serious?"

"He _is_ Joe freaking Jonas."

"What about Newt?"

"We're not dating."

"Are you _serious_?"

"Maybe."

Rebel laughed against as Mack playfully hit her on the arm. "Ok, where do you want to go now that we've skipped?"

"I dunno. Movies? Are you going to tell Jason where you are?"

"Nah, I'll let him worry," Rebel responded with a sly grin. "It's what he gets for stalking Meena so much. Which reminds me, either we set her up with Baxter or with your brother. Matt, like, idolizes the girl."

"I know, it's really creepy," Mack agreed. "But I would personally prefer Meena with Baxter. If my brother dated her then we might end up having to go along with their religion and their beliefs and I do not want that."

"Ok, Baxter it is then," Rebel said as she pulled out her cell phone. She quickly typed a text message and sent it to Cory before sending another one to Meena.

"What'd you just do?" Mack asked in curiosity.

"I sent a text message to Baxter saying that I wanted to meet him at the Liberry to talk about helping him get Meena to notice him. And then I sent one to Meena telling her to meet me at the Liberry so we can study for history."

"Do you really think that it's going to work?" Mack asked as Rebel's driver pulled up in front of the movie theater.

"It has to. I'm getting really annoyed about Baxter talking about Meena. He has to do something about it!"

--

Once school was over Cory got a ride to the Liberry as Rebel told him to do. Cory walked into the Liberry and looked around to see if he could spot Rebel. He ordered a strawberry smoothie from the counter before looking around again. He sat down and waited, looking at his watch from time to time as he listened to music.

"Cory?" He looked up and jumped to his feet when he noticed that Meena was the one who had addressed him. "What're you doing here?"

"I'm waiting for Rebel. She said she was going to help me…help me…study…for chemistry," he responded. _'Wow, that was close.'_ "Wait a minute. Why are you here?"

"Rebel sent me a text saying to come so we could study history," Meena responded, a confused look on her face. "Ohhh, she set us up."

"Huh?" Cory asked in confusion.

"Rebel. She set us up. She knows that I'm good at chemistry and you're good at history so we could help each other study," Meena responded.

"O-oh," Cory stammered as his face heated up. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." _'Remind me to thank Rebel'_ he told himself as the two sat down on the couch and opened their books.

--

"Hey, Baxter sent me a text back," Rebel said as she flipped open her pink Razr phone. "It says Thnk You. Ha! I knew that setting them up would be a good idea!"

"Yeah, because you're really that smart," Mack said with a tiny eyeroll as she went back to checking her e-mail.

"Yes I am." Rebel had a smirk on her face that faded quickly when her phone rang, signaling that she got another text. "It's from Joe."

"Tell him that you're back together with Jason," Mack said as she whirled around in her chair. "Do it. The sooner the better."

"I can't," Rebel said as her thumbs hovered over her cell phone. "I can't!"

"It's not that hard," Mack responded. "Unless you really like the thought of having two super successful boyfriends."

"No, I can't because he invited me to be his date for his release party for their new CD," Rebel responded. "I can't say no to that! The song, Burnin' Up, is practically about us. I can't."

"You have to," Mack told her.

"I can't! We'll get a free CD, autographed stuff, and a new ipod," she said as she read the screen on her cell phone.

"I do need a new ipod," Mack admitted.

"Great! You can be…Kevin's date," Rebel said as she typed a reply on her cell phone.

"Why Kevin?" Mack asked. "Not that I don't like him."

"Because it would be weird for you to date Nick seeing as you both were born on the same day and you have nothing in common, and Kevin had his eye on you during Sophie's Hannah Montana party. And you said you liked his hair."

"That was when it was straight," Mack grumbled. "But that's besides the point. You can't lead Joe on like this. It's wrong."

"I'm not leading anyone on," Rebel responded. "Jason doesn't know about Joe and Joe doesn't know about Jason." She sighed when Mack didn't drop the suspicious look from her face. "I'll tell Joe, really I will…after I get all of the stuff."

"You're such a spoiled brat."

"And damn proud of it." Mack laughed as she grabbed her ringing cell phone. She flipped it open to see who sent her a text when her face paled and her mouth fell open. "What? What's wrong?"

"I just got a text from my ex-boyfriend," she responded slowly. "He's in town and he wants to meet up with me."


	18. Three Stars Are Brighter Than One?

**Chapter 18: Three Stars Are Brighter Than One?**

"Woah, are you serious?" Rebel asked, looking over at Mack.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Do you think I know? Seriously!"

"When?" Rebel paused, "It can't be," she paused again, flipping her phone open, "A week from Friday."

"He wants me to meet him this Friday." Mack said.

"Well that's good, you can get a new boyfriend, I can get rid of Joe, after hanging around tons of celebrities and buying a gorgeous dress," her voice lowered to a whisper, "and hooking up with Roshon Fegan."

"What?" Mack exclaimed.

"Nothing, you heard nothing."

"I still cannot believe Joe wants to go public with you."

"Woah, wait. No one said anything about publicity."

"You already had the stint in Pop Informer, people know, Rebel." Mack said.

Rebel scoffed, "No they don't. I said something about the 'Burnin' Up' tour to Jason this morning and he was like 'That'd be awesome to go check them out again.'"

"Sarcasm?"

"Nope, he wasn't being sarcastic, I know when that boy's being sarcastic."

"Anyway, so, how are we getting to New York?" Mack said, half-sarcastically, half-obviously.

"I have no clue, my mother cannot find out though." Rebel replied.

The two sat in silence, until Rebel blurted out, "Newt! Newt's dad owns a jet! We get on it after school and we're back around three AM, sneak into bed, no one notices we're gone, it's flawless."

"Except for one thing, DNW Newt!" Mack yelled.

"Ah! DNW, I'm so proud of you!" Rebel said happily.

"Shut up, I'm serious, we cannot ask Newt for help here, he'd know that I was going to meet Kevin and he'd be all emo and then we'd be screwed."

"But Joe'd let him in, he played guitar with them on 'Goodnight and Goodbye' and 'Hollywood'." Rebel said, "It's simple."

"Wouldn't Senator Livingston find out about us hijacking his plane!"

"Not if I have anything to do with it." she said with a smirk as she pulled out her Blackberry from her purse and flashed it infront of Mack.

"You complain about your phone all the time, but you have that in the dark depths of your bag!" she exclaimed.

"This is my texting and talking phone, this is my espionage phone." she smiled.

"You are a freak. F-R-E-A-K freak."

"See, that's what's bad about me. I'm not good at school related computer and mathmatics stuff, but if I could find a way to make Algebra C.I.A. related, I would pass with flying colors and all that jazz."

"Hmm...I honestly think if you pulled this gig off than you can do anything." Mack laughed.

"So, tell me about this boyfriend." Rebel said, crossing her left leg over her right and staring Mack down.

"Okay, his name's Lucas, he has blonde hair and green eyes, he flirts with every girl he meets."

"Haha, like Lucas on Hannah Montana."

Mack rolled her eyes, "Yes, now, let me finish!

"Fine."

"We dated for a while, than he cheated on me..." Rebel gasped and giggled a little. "Yeah I know, Hannah Montana, now be quiet!" Mack snapped. "And I tried to stay away from him after that."

"Sounds like Newt all over again."

Mack rolled her eyes, "Newt never cheated."

"You just admitted you were together."

"Were being the major word."

Rebel sighed dramatically, "Whatever, so are you going to see this guy?"

"I guess, it would be kind of rude not to."

"This sounds so selfish but, you cannot go out with him again until after the whole L.A. thing because I need that jet!" Rebel exclaimed.

"I am not getting back together with Lucas!"

"Or so you think."

On Friday night, Rebel and Mack sat in Mack's room talking before she had to meet Lucas.

"Nooo..." Rebel said with a slight laugh, "No hair down, pull it up, you cannot go off attracting Lucas when I'm in desperate need of your...whatever...to get to New York to hang with Joe, Nick, Kevin, and Frankie Jonas, Big Rob, Demi Lovato and all these other people in two weeks."

"I hate you." Mack said.

Rebel smiled, "My job is complete."

"What are you going to do for however long I'm out?" Mack asked.

"I'm going to find this." she held up a piece of crumbled up computer paper.

Mack took the paper from her hand and straightened it out. On the paper was a picture of a black, strapless dress with silver embellishments on the heart shaped chest.

"It's located on the other side of town and it's 250." Mack said, "How do you have 250."

"I'm going to call the car like I did a few days ago, take Sophie with me and I still have 800 worth of my spending inheiritance from my birth mother. The other like ton is in a college fund. It's not like I'm going to get into college anyway."

"You'll go to college." Mack rolled her eyes, "It sure is pretty, I take it that's what you're wearing to the CD release."

"You got it. Isn't it gorgeous?" she smiled triumphantly.

"Yeah." Mack said, "For someone who doesn't want this boy, you're going to a lot of effort."

"I really want to kiss him again before I dump him." Rebel exclaimed.

"You're pathetic." Mack laughed, then got quiet, "But I don't blame you."

"Exactly." Rebel said, "So what time will you be back?"

"I don't know." Mack said.

"Okay," she said, "Do you want me to call Newt about the jet?"

"Are you sure you can erase the computer's memory of the flight _and _get Joe to get him a pass."

"Joe already said he could come since he's transportation, and I'm sure I can. I can refer to my friend Isabella who's 001 too, she's really good with computer memorys and stuff, I can call her, she lives in..."

"I really do not care, I just want to make sure everything you said would go down right."

"It will, I already took it up with my mom, but I made a better story."

"Really?"

"I told her: 'Mom, next Friday, Mack asked if I could spend the night, and then go to the mall to look for this dress for the school dance..."

"I don't wear dresses!"

"That's beside the point, I told her I'd be gone until about six the next night, that gives us ample time." Rebel said.

"Where are we gonna stay in NYC?" Mack exclaimed.

"Joe hooked us up." She smiled and flipped her phone open, pushing some buttons, "We're going to stay at the Hilton. Same hotel as JB."

"Nice." Mack smiled, nodding in approval,"Is that one of the hotels with the whirlpool tub and pay-per-view?"

Rebel's jaw dropped a little as she shrugged, "I. don't. know."

"Ask Joe."

"I am not asking my totally hot, superstar boyfriend if the stupid hotel has a whirlpool tub, do you realize how stupid I'd, excuse me, we'd look."

"Now you know how I feel." Mack said in defeat.

Rebel sighed, "Anyway, we're going to go to Newt's after school and leave. Another thing, you have to tell your mom you're staying with Meena because if she thought you were staying with me, she'd be able to go downstairs and check on you, that'd be bad."

"Okay." Mack looked at the clock behind Rebel, "Oh man, I gotta go."

"Good luck, I'll call Newt after you leave."

"Thanks, bye." Mack said as she walked out the front door.

Rebel was soon out the door behind her and flipped open her phone again, hitting speed dial four and waiting.

"Hello?"

"Newt, it's me, how would you like to hang with the Jonas Brothers again?"


	19. Dial D for Denial

**Chapter 19: Dial D for Denial**

"That would be cool, dudette," Newt responded as he paid for a cup-of-cheese before taking it and walking a little ways away. "There's a catch, isn't there."

"You're seriously smarter than you look," Rebel told him. "Well, we're going to need your jet to get to LA."

"Why LA?"

"Because that's where they're having their CD release party is going to be held on Friday and we don't have any other mode of transportation that's fast enough. That's where you come in. If you do this for me then you can play with the Jonas Brothers again," she responded in a patient tone. But, judging by her breathing, she was making her way through the mall pretty fast. He could even hear Sophie calling for her to slow down.

"Hmmm, ok. But my parents are going to find out that the jet is missing," He told her.

"I all ready have that taken care of. After school on Friday we'll go to your place and go to LA from there. Tell your parents that you're going on a school trip and you won't be back until Sunday."

"Ok, who else is going?"

"All of us, of course. You, Cory, Meena, Jason, Mack, and Matt," Rebel responded. "Ooh, I _love_ that shirt," she muttered.

"Mack's going?" I asked hopefully.

"That's what I just said. What, do you want to get back together with her or something?"

"Well, I–" Newt stopped when he accidentally crashed into an old lady. She swung her bag at him and it hit him in the arm. "Ouch! What do you have in that purse?" He called after her as he rubbed his arm. He started to lift his phone to his ear when he stopped halfway. _'Hmm, that girl looks a lot like Mack.'_ I thought as I looked at a couple who were standing in front of an Auntie Anne's pretzel place. I watched as the guy paid for the pretzel and held it out to the girl. She shook her head and looked down at her watch before saying something and glancing around. _'It is Mack. I wonder what she's doing here. And who's the guy?' _The guy said something to her and she shook her head and crossed her arms. I almost dropped my phone when the guy stepped forward and kissed her.

"Newt? NEWT?" Rebel was yelling in my ear. "Are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm still here," he responded. "I'll get the jet for you."

"What's the matter with you? You sound like you just found out your puppy died."

"Puppy died!?" He cried out. "Oh man, that's not cool…wait, I don't have a puppy."

"_Bye_ Newt."

--

"So, what happened?" Rebel asked once Mack came back from meeting up with Lucas. Sophie was sitting on Rebel's bed, brushing the hair to one of her dolls while Meena sat at her computer, searching for something.

"What's going on?" Meena asked as she spun around in her swivel chair.

"Nothing happened, Reb," Mack told her.

"She just came back from meeting up with her ex," Rebel told Meena who jumped from the chair and landed on the bed. The two had big expecting grins on their faces as they waited for Mack to tell them what happened.

"Well, what happened?" Meena asked. "Don't hold anything back."

"I met up with Lucas, we talked about some stuff, walked around the mall, and then I came back here, end of story," Mack responded. "Now what's going on with you and Baxter? Please tell me you've chosen him over my brother."

"We're just friends," she mumbled as she ran a hand through her hair. "Nothing's going on between us."

"She said the same thing about Newt before," Rebel said as she pointed at Mack. "And look where that ended up."

"With me being stalked by him," Mack told her. "You want Meena to be stalked."

"Not like she wasn't before," Rebel pointed out.

"I'm telling you, there's nothing going on between Cory and I," Meena told them.

"Say that again after we show up at the JoBro party with that awesome dress you bought," Rebel challenged her. "I bet you that Cory will finally tell you that he likes you there."

"And if he doesn't?" Meena asked.

"I will…stay away from anything CIA related for a week," she responded as she placed a hand over her heart and lifted her other hand. "But if _I_ win, then you have to go on a date with Baxter, an actual date. Movie, dinner, the works."

"Deal," Meena said as the two shook hands.

"You want to get in on this?" Rebel asked. "I bet you that Newt tells you he still likes you. If I lose, it's the same punishment so if you both win I'll stay away from CIA stuff for two weeks."

"Which includes staying away from Jason," Mack spoke up.

"Don't be cruel!" Rebel cried out.

"Reb, Jason oozes CIA. If you lose, you stay away from him too."

"Deal," Rebel grumbled even though she shook her friends' hand.

"Rebel, can you come here for a second?" Ms. Samuels called form a different room in the house.

"Ugh, I'll be right back," she said before sliding off of the bed.

"Does Rebel look kind of…sick to you?" Meena asked once Rebel was out of earshot.

"There's a bug going around, it wouldn't surprise me," Mack said with a shrug as she pushed some hair behind her ear and looked at the magazine that was in her hands.

"Hey, where'd you get that scratch?" Meena asked as she pointed to the scratch that was by Mack's left eyebrow.

"Oh, Max threw a pen at me," she responded with a small smile. "It's what I get for blasting music when she tried to study. Dang, that girl likes to learn too much." Meena nodded as she squinted.


	20. Be Prepared

**Chapter 20: Be Prepared**

On Friday morning, Rebel woke up at the sound of her alarm clock. It read: 5:00, thirty minutes earlier than when she normally woke up.

She sighed and shut it off, turning the light on and sitting up. She rubbed her eyes and pulled her hair out of its messy bun and climbed out of bed. As if like clockwork, she remembered what she had to do.

"Dress." she said groggily, pacing quickly over to her closet, opening the walk in door, walking in quickly to the back. She pushed back a row of clothes to reveal the dress bag that was hanging from a separate hook.

She grabbed it and a pair of black stilettos and made her way to her room. She picked up a huge High School Musical duffle bag and threw the shoes inside, and then carefully folded the dress bag in half, sliding it into the big middle compartment.

She walked back into her closet and grabbed hold of a big, pink, plastic tub that contained all of her purses and bags. She dug through it until she found a medium sized black bag with the Jonas Brothers' logo on it and the signature at the bottom. She went to her mirror and threw the bag on the ground, putting her make up on for the day and then throwing all of it into the bag and shoving it down in the duffle bag.

She changed into a purple and black striped t-shirt with a black vest over it, gray "dress" shorts, and white gladiator sandals. She quickly tossed her hair into a ponytail and grabbed the rest of the things she would need for the Jonas party and headed out to the living room.

Mrs. Samuels was pacing in the kitchen, putting things in her purse, and attempting to put Rebel's lunch in a black and pink Hannah Montana lunchbox. Rebel eyed the lunchbox with disgust. She then remembered that she was currently carrying the rest of her spending inheritance in her wallet for possible emergencies, and now lunch.

She grabbed an apple out of the bowl sitting on the kitchen counter. She stared into the kitchen, trying to catch her mom's eye. She waved her arm until Samantha saw her.

"Bye!" she paused, "You're still going to Meena's right?"

Rebel nodded, "We won't be back until, six-ish tomorrow, and we have to run to the mall and some other places tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay. Have fun!" she smiled.

Rebel smiled triumphantly, picked up her stuff and headed out the door. She got a few feet down the hall when:

_I said my lip-gloss is cool, my lip-gloss is poppin', I'm standin' at my locker and all the boys keep stoppin'..._

She rolled her eyes, sitting her stuff down and pulling her phone out of her purse. The ID read:

MACK

She flipped the phone open.

"Did everything go over okay?"

"We're all good. I'm so excited!" Rebel said.

"Cool, see you in a bit."

When Rebel arrived at school she was greeted by Jason.

"Hey you." he smiled, "You look amazing." he eyed her up and down.

Rebel made a face of disgust, "Jason, not now, are you ago for tonight?"

He nodded, and then frowned, "Why do I have to go? Plus," he bit his lip and stared off over Rebel's shoulder, "I don't like that Shane Jonas or whatever his name is."

Rebel snickered and rolled her eyes, "It's Joe Jonas," she paused, "And we're over Jase," she winced at her lie, "Get over it." she took his hand in hers.

"I guess you're right." he said, "Why should I hate this guy? Although, he went in on my territory and that's so not cool with me."

Rebel laughed, "What am I going to do with you?"

"Kiss me?" he said.

"We're in the hallway, not a chance."

"You owe me then."

"You've got yourself a deal."

Jason let go of her hand and headed off toward his class as Newt walked up to Rebel.

"Okay, I brought a tux, just a plain sport coat to go over a t-shirt, and that black and silver button-up shirt Meena got me for my birthday last year." He said, quickly.

"Holy God," Rebel groaned, "You're like a girl. Why did you bring all that crap?"

"I thought I might need it. I brought other clothes though; the dress stuff is just for tonight." He said.

"Okay, so..."

"Go for the t-shirt and the sports coat." She said, "It sounds much better."

"Fly." He smiled, nodding his head.

"Are you psyched?" Rebel asked, her voice an octave higher, almost in a squeal. She had a widespread grin across her face.

"You know it! This is awesome!"

Rebel nodded, "We are the best teen spies around this joint."

"Technically you and Jason are the only ones trained to act as spies." Newt said matter-of-factly.

Rebel's mouth hung open a little in shock, "Seriously, does the light in your brain randomly just go off or something?"

"Yes..." Newt paused, "No...I don't know."

"Figures" Rebel replied as she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Okay, check my crap and make sure you approve." Mack rolled her eyes, dropping several bags at Rebel's feet, "Not that it really matters to you."

"I don't care what you're wearing back on that plane. I just want to know what you're wearing tonight." Rebel said.

Mack rolled her eyes and began to search through her bags. She finally pulled out an ice blue cotton dress and a pair of white leggings with the lightning bolts, the same color blue, on them.

Rebel's jaw dropped, "Those leggings are the bomb! The dress is so cute too! I'm proud of you!"

"Thanks." Mack rolled her eyes.

"So, let's store this away in the janitor's closet and then get to class."

"Wow, I never thought I'd hear Rebel tell us to get to class." Mack laughed.

"Shut up..." Rebel paused, "Where's Meena?"

"What do you care?" Newt asked.

"She's supposed to go! She can't look like the Bahavian crap she really is deep down!" she exclaimed.

"I don't know, but maybe we can..."

The loud ring of the bell filled the air and cut off Mack's sentence.

"Man!" Rebel exclaimed, "That's my third tardy this term. If I get one more, I'll get detention and my mom'll take away my texting phone!"

"Can I have it?" Newt asked, a sheepish smile across his face.

"Not like _take it, _take it!" she exclaimed, picking up her stuff.

Mack followed suit and followed her to the same janitor's closet that her and Newt were locked in just the other week. Rebel organized all of her stuff on a shelf behind several buckets. Newt did the same, but behind a locker. Mack hid her stuff in an empty drawer in a chest of drawers near the back wall.

They walked out of the janitor's closet and turned the corner, meeting face to face with Dr. Vanderslice.

"Oh crap!" Rebel hissed.

Rebel knew, deep down she was not one of Dr. Vanderslice's favorite people, and now to throw Newt into this mix, they were all dead.

Dr. Vanderslice looked from Mack to Rebel and from Rebel to Newt.

"To the office?" she asked.

"To the office." Mack replied, pointing in the opposite direction of where they were originally going.

"Great." Rebel said sarcastically.

At the last bell, Rebel grabbed her quilted book bag off the floor and ran out the door to find Mack and Newt waiting for her at her locker.

"How did you guys get out so fast?" she asked.

"I said I had to go to the bathroom and never came back." Mack said.

"I had some class where my mom said I was supposed to do homework, but I never do; I just stare at the wall."

"Study hall?" Mack asked.

"I think that's what it's called." He replied.

"Seriously, you guys, we've got to be at that air dock in twenty minutes, come on!" Rebel said, running out to the front of the school.

"You guys! Over here!"

Mack, Rebel, and Newt all turned around to face the direction of the voice.

Meena was standing a little bit down the sidewalk with Jason, waving her hands in the air. Rebel quickly got into a sprint and ran up to her.

"Let me check your bags!"

"Chill out, Reb." Jason said, "It's not like she's gonna unleash snakes on the plane or something."

"That's true." Rebel paused. Meena looked at her with a smile crossing her face.

"She'd unleash yaks." Rebel finished with a smirk.

Meena sighed in defeat as Rebel pulled out a bright pink, sparkly tank top and black skinny jeans.

"That'll do." Rebel folded her clothes back up and put them into the bag.

"Why do you care so much about what people are wearing?" Jason said.

"I want to make sure you're dressed appropriately. There's gonna be huge stars there!" she said.

"Fine." Jason rolled his eyes, "Girls..."

They arrived at the air dock about ten minutes later.

"The Livingston's jet, correct?" the driver asked.

"Yes sir." Rebel said.

"Here we are."

The kids all exited the limo and walked in front of the plane.

"This is scary." Meena said.

"Are you guys ready for this?" Rebel asked.

"Bring it." Jason replied.


	21. Break Apart Her Heart

**Chapter 21: Break Apart Her Heart**

Rebel bobbed her head to the techno song that was playing on her iPod. She started getting into it and started dancing in her seat. She felt a tap on her shoulder and looked at Jason, who didn't say anything but pointed out the window. She leaned across him to look out the window and grinned when she saw the Hollywood sign.

"We're almost here!" She squealed, clapping her hands in London Tipton style. She jumped out of her seat and moved down the wide aisle to where Mack and Matt were sitting. She laughed when she saw the death grip that Mack had on her chair. "What's wrong with you?"

"I really hate flying," Mack responded while Matt chuckled.

"You scared too? I can hold your hand," Matt offered.

"Ew," Rebel muttered. She moved onto where Newt, Cory, and Meena were sitting, poring over a magazine about music. "Guys, we're almost here!" She cheered as they looked up at her. "Don't all celebrate at once," she muttered sarcastically when they didn't say anything.

"The affect hasn't hit them yet. Once we get to the party they'll be excited," Meena said as she chuckled a little.

Rebel nodded and moved back to her seat. As soon as she sat down Jason turned to her. "Can I get my kiss now?"

"Not here," she said in a dismissive tone as she reached into her black hole of a bag to find something.

"Why not? No one's paying attention. You used to not care." She rolled her eyes at the hurt tone he was taking.

"Well, I care now. Not in front of other people," she muttered.

"Fine."

Finally the plane landed smoothly and the group gathered their things and filed off of the private jet. As soon as they got inside the airport camera flashes went off, almost blinding them.

"Oh no," Rebel muttered as she shielded her face from the camera flashes when she heard people calling her name. She felt a shove from behind before a hand clasping her wrist and she was suddenly pulled away from the cameras, running as fast as she could. "Thanks. Did I ever tell you that you're my bestie?" Rebel asked, looking at Mack as the two girls ran as fast as they could, weaving in and out of the people moving their way.

"Yeah yeah," she muttered in a dismissive tone, finally pulling them outside. They covered their faces from the bright sunlight. Seconds later Matt was by their side.

"Are you two ok?" He asked them.

"Fine," Rebel responded with a nod.

"See, this wouldn't have happened if you didn't mess with Jonas in the first place," Mack said as she shook her head.

Rebel didn't respond, she just got into the limo that had pulled up to them. Everyone else finally caught up and got into the limo. It was then that Cory and Newt started freaking out about going to a VIP party for the Jonas Brothers. Meena, Jason, Mack, Rebel, and Matt all slumped in their seats so they wouldn't be seen through the dark tinted windows.

"Tell me why we're friends with them again," Mack whispered to Rebel.

"Because you and Newt are soul mates and we're going to get Cory and Meena together tonight," Rebel responded.

"Are you sure we can get those two together? They're so stubborn."

"So are you and you dated Newt for a little bit. We can do this, trust me. With the dress she picked he's going t have a hard time picking his jaw up off the floor."

"Where's this party located anyway?" Matt asked the two girls.

"The lobby of the hotel we're staying at," Rebel responded.

"What hotel are we staying at?"

"That one." She pointed out the window and everyone turned to see that they were going to stay at the Hotel Bel-Air.

"How'd you swing that?"

"It's what happens when your Mom is the secretary to the President." They all got out of the limo and went inside the hotel. Rebel got them checked in and they took the elevator up to their floor. "Ok guys, here's your key. We'll see you at seven."

"Wait, you don't want to go the pool or anything?" Cory asked in confusion.

"No. We're going to the spa for massages, duh."

Cory chuckled to himself before the guys went into their room. They looked around the luxurious space before turning on the TV to watch Transformers.

"This party is going to be so cool. We can get our demo CD out to the right people and _bam_! We're touring the world!" Cory said as he rubbed his hands together. "And making some green in the process."

"Dude, remember you said you were going to help me get Mack back," Newt said as he poked Cory in the arm.

"It can't be that hard. Just…play her a heartfelt song or something. That always wins girls over," Cory said in a dismissive tone.

"But she's not like those kinds of girls," Newt all but whined. "You gotta help me."

"Why don't you ask Matt? He's her twin; he should know everything about her."

"We're going to break apart her heart." Matt asked with a sigh. "First off, what do you really know about her?"

"She likes the color blue, Rebel is her best friend, she tolerates Stickler umm…she likes guitar and music," Newt responded.

"That's it?" Matt asked. Newt shrugged. "You don't know her favorite TV show? Favorite flower? Favorite store? Favorite anything?" Newt shook his head. "Oh my gosh, why does she like you?"

"She likes me? She still likes me?" Newt asked as his eyes lit up. "That's awesome! I'll do anything to get her back."

A slow grin formed on Matt's face. "I could get used to hearing that."

-----

"Mack, come on!" Rebel shouted as she pounded her fist on the bathroom door. "We're going to be late. I don't want to miss 'accidentally' running into Joe."

"Yell at me again and I'll 'accidentally' run my fist into your nose!" She shouted back before coming out of the bathroom, wearing her dress and leggings that she showed Rebel before. "Is the makeup necessary?" She asked, glaring at Rebel.

"Yes. A shadowed look around your blue eyes makes you look mysterious," Rebel responded as she rolled her eyes and Meena walked over to the two girls, running a brush through her recently straightened hair. "You look good," she added looking over Meena. "Let's go!"

The girls left the room and took the elevator down to the lobby. They followed the music down a hallway where it was pouring out of the room. Two bouncers were standing outside of the room where a red ribbon was in front of the door.

"Name?" One bouncer asked.

"Rebel Marie Samuels," Rebel responded in confidence. The bouncers stared at her. "I'm with Jonas."

"Yeah, and Chad Dylan Cooper is my cousin," the other one said with a snort.

"I didn't want to rely on this," Rebel muttered as she looked through her purse before holding out her badge. "Rebel Marie Samuels, CIA." The bouncers looked at each other and moved the rope. "They're with me," she added, pointing to Meena and Mack. "And if some guy named Stickler tries to come in, he and his group is with me too."

Rebel smiled as the two stepped into the party. The only lights were moving disco and strobe lights. People were on the dance floor and moving around the room, talking to each other.

"You two have fun," Rebel said once her eyes landed on Joe and she rushed off.

"I hate it when she does that," Mack muttered. She expected Meena to agree when she noticed that she had run off. "I hate it when _she_ does that too!"

"Why's someone so beautiful standing here alone?" The corner of Mack's mouth twitched when she turned to see who the voice belonged to. Chad Dylan Cooper himself. "Are you going to answer my question?" He asked her as he lifted his eyebrows.

"My friends ran off," she responded stiffly.

"So I'm guessing they won't mind if I borrow you for a few minutes."

"Waddya mean _borrow_?" Mack asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Chill, I just meant I want to introduce you to some people. Or we could talk," a grin crossed his face, "or we could do…something else."


	22. Party at the Heartbreak Hotel

**(A/N: Demi Lovato and Sonny Monroe are TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE in this. Lol. Sonny would have a lot less make-up on and have a different haircut and stuff. Haha. This is where imagination comes in.)**

* * *

**Chapter 22: Party at the Heartbreak Hotel**

_**Rebel's POV**_

I walked into the party with Mack. My jaw nearly hit the floor as soon as I saw the setup. The whole room was dark and lights were flashing everywhere, and in the very front of the room, there was a large poster of the "A Little Bit Longer" album cover.

I scanned the room slowly, trying to find Joe. My eyes landed on him, chilling on a black sofa with Kevin and some blonde chick that I automatically assumed was Mandy. Hello, "Even though she's the blonde, I'm the one that feels so dumb." If they wrote a song about her, than she's bound to show up for their party. After all, that's why I'm here. Plus, in my opinion, I got the better song.

I looked over at Mack and my heart stopped in my chest. Chad Dylan effing Cooper was standing right beside her and she hadn't even seen him yet! Yeah, she bashes on Mackenzie Falls all the time, but for real, there's no girl on this earth that would deny the fact that he's totally gorgeous.

I waited and caught Chad's eye, and flashed him a big smile. He looked at me like I was crazy (which I was half expecting), and then gave me a short partial smile.

"You two have fun." I grinned, making a fast paced sprint over to the couch where Joe and Kevin were.

As I got closer, I slowed down and did a quick fix of my hair. I grinned as I saw Joe's eyes land on me. He had a cute smile on his face as he stood up and walked up to me. We hugged then I sat down in one of the most envied spots among teenage girls, right between Kevin and Joe.

"How was your flight?" Joe asked.

"Pretty fun, my iPod didn't die like I told you I thought it would." I smiled.

Joe laughed, "Good. Where's your posse?"

"I don't know where the guys are, but I just abandoned Mack with Chad Dylan Cooper." I laughed.

"That was nice." Kevin laughed.

"I know, but I was hoping they'd meet, fall in love, and this whole Newt thing would end over night." I said, "I mean, she does like the whole shaggy blonde hair thing."

"Kinda like me and you and that Jason kid." Joe said smugly as he put his left arm around me.

I smiled widely. How could I not fall absolutely head over heels in love with him? He was so cute, and he had his dorky side too. Ugh, this whole choosing thing was driving me crazy.

"Is Jason with 'yall?"

I bit my lip and nodded, "Yeah, but he wanted to come. I didn't know what to do. I'm sorry."

Joe sighed, "Its okay. You're about me though, right?"

A vivid flashback of Jason on the plane practically smacked me in the head.

"_Can I get my kiss now?"_

"_Not here."_

"Yeah." I answered, completely lying; I had no clue who I was really for.

"Cool." He smiled, scooting me closer to him.

I pulled my Blackberry out of my purse and spun the little white ball to bring the phone out of sleep mode. No texts. Really? I thought Jason would've at least text me saying that they were here. I brought up my last conversation with Jason, which ended in "Love you", making me feel that much worse. I texted him saying, "Hey, where are u guys?"

"Who 'ya texting?" Joe asked, glancing down at my phone.

"Holy hell." I thought, bringing up a later conversation with his brother.

"Nick." I said quickly, "I was wondering where he was, I haven't seen him tonight."

"Selena's here." he said in a sing song voice.

I lit up, "Does he like her? Oh my gosh, that's so cute!"

"I guess. Kevin said he heard him say her name in his sleep a few nights ago." he said, trying to hold back a laugh.

Kevin nodded, "That's totally true too."

The sound of a phone vibrating broke our conversation. Both Kevin and I grabbed our phones. I had nothing. Kevin slid his hand down his iPhone and then stood up, "Danielle's here. I gotta go, guys. See you later!"

"Later, Kev." Joe said.

"Bye!" I paused, "If you see the three stooges that belong to my group, tell them Meena's looking for them."

"Okay." Kevin said, heading off with a wave.

Then I realized, me and Joe were alone.

"It's about time he left." Joe said with a joking smile.

I grinned, "I guess."

"What's wrong, babe, you seem, I don't know, stressed." he leaned over closer to me and nudged my shoulder.

Jason did this little trick all the time. I rolled my eyes quickly, where he wouldn't see and then rested my head on his shoulder.

"I don't know. I guess it's the idea that after this party, I have to go back to the freakin' airport and do all this CIA crap to erase the plane's memory where our parent's won't ever find out we left D.C. and then added on to that, Jason…"

I wasn't going to tell him everything, this wasn't the time. Plus, he was dressed in all black (which made him look so amazing, and he matched me), and I kinda wanted to drag this thing out for as long as possible.

"What?" he said. I felt him tighten up a bit, probably out of irritation at Jason.

"Well, we're still friends and all, just friends, and he's not accepting it. It's just kind of annoying."

"If I didn't have to be "good-guy-sweetheart-Joe-Jonas" tonight, I'd kick his ass." he said.

"Joe!" I half-laughed, half-gasped.

The more I got to know this guy, the more I liked him.

"What? No one's touching my girl." he said.

"You're really sweet, you know that?" I smiled.

"Thanks, I try." he grinned.

As a fast paced song ended, a slower one began. At first I didn't recognize it, until it actually started playing.

"_The strands in your eyes, they color them wonderful, stop me, be still my breath."_

I smiled, "I love this song, and it's so sweet."

"You wanna dance?" he asked.

"Okay."

I felt my face turn so hot. I was about to slow dance with Joe Jonas. Oh man, this would be the highlight of so many girls' lives and I was living it. The Jobros talk about "Living the dream". If they only knew.

We walked out onto the dance floor and Joe put his hands on my hips. I put my arms around his neck and took a few steps closer to him.

I looked up into his dark brown eyes. They were the perfect shade of brown that I could get lost in.

"You look so beautiful tonight." He smiled at me, and then looked away.

"Thanks."

I soon felt him pulling me in closer. He rested his forehead against mine. My heart began to race in my chest. The moment was amazing.

Joe leaned in and kissed me gently on the lips. I began to kiss back as he deepened this kiss.

"_Joe, Joe, Joe…" _was all that my head could process at the moment.

He broke the kiss and put his forehead back down on mine.

I looked back up at him. The whole world seemed to stop spinning. I had never felt more in love in my life. Jason wasn't even a thought in my head.

"I love you, Rebel." Joe said.

"I love y-you too." I said.

He leaned back in and kissed me again. I partially opened my eyes in the middle of the kiss. I didn't have to have my eyes all the way open even too see what I saw.

Jason was standing about nine feet away, looking at me and Joe shaking his head slowly.

I quickly pulled away from Joe.

"Reb, what's up? What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything, I did."

"What?"

"Look I've gotta go."

"Baby, what? Why?"

With that, I took off running through the people after Jason as the last line of the song played.

"_I'll be the greatest fan of your life, the greatest fan of your life…"_

MEANWHILE

"_You two have fun," Rebel said once her eyes landed on Joe and she rushed off._

"_I hate it when she does that," Mack muttered. She expected Meena to agree when she noticed that she had run off. "I hate it when she does that too!"_

"_Why's someone so beautiful standing here alone?" The corner of Mack's mouth twitched when she turned to see who the voice belonged to. Chad Dylan Cooper himself. "Are you going to answer my question?" He asked her as he lifted his eyebrows._

"_My friends ran off," she responded stiffly._

"_So I'm guessing they won't mind if I borrow you for a few minutes."_

"_Waddya mean borrow?" Mack asked, her eyes narrowing._

"_Chill, I just meant I want to introduce you to some people. Or we could talk," a grin crossed his face, "or we could do…something else."_

_**MACK'S POV.**_

This guy cannot be serious! _Something else._ Really? I may have only had, what, three boyfriends my entire life, but even I knew what that means.

"Really Cooper? Are you that much of a skeeze you'll screw the first girl you meet when you walk in the door?" I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

"You'd be lucky if I even suggested that we get at it." Chad said.

"You're an asshole." I said, flipping my hair in a Rebel-ish manner as I started to walk away.

"I've been hanging out around her way too long." I groaned.

"Hey! Where've you been?"

I turned around to see Meena behind me.

"I was with Rebel, and then she found Joe. Then, I got creeped on by Chad Dylan Cooper. I really wasn't made for Hollywood life." I scowled.

"I'm having a blast so far! I walked in the door and within five minutes of being here, I got asked to dance by Roshon Fegan!" She smiled.

"Way to go." I said awkwardly.

We stood in an awkward silence before Meena grabbed my arm and pulled me over a few feet from where we were standing.

"You've gotta see this!" she laughed.

She pointed over into a crowd of people to a sight I never thought I'd see. Newt was dancing to "I'm So Paid" with Demi Lovato.

"Wooow." I said.

"Jealous?" Meena smiled.

Truth is, I did feel some strange emotion that made me want to throw my sister's Demi CD out the car window going down the highway when I got home, but I ignored it.

"Nah, I'm good."

I then felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around to see that freak Cooper standing behind me.

"Really? You can just let sleeping dogs lie can you?" I said.

"Look, can we start over? I'm Chad Dylan Cooper, although you probably already knew that. I think you're extremely er…pretty and I wanted to know if you wanted to dance?" he said.

I sighed; at least he was being more polite this time. Plus, even though I was tired of Rebel's rants about "The Falls", he was still cute.

"Fine, let's dance."

With an annoying squeal from Meena, Chad and I were headed out to the dance floor.


	23. Tearin' Up My Heart

**Chapter 23: Tearin' Up My Heart**

"Stickler, hurry up man! I have to get down there!" Cory shouted through the closed bathroom door. Instead of pacing like he was doing before he decided on yelling through the bathroom door at Jason who was taking a surprisingly long time.

"What's your rush?" Newt asked as he flipped channels on the TV.

"If I don't get down there soon some other guy is going to find Meena and want to dance with her. And dancing leads to…something else and I _want_, no, I _deserve_ that something else, man!" Cory responded as he grabbed Newt's shoulders and shook him. "Why aren't you worried about Mack, anyway?"

"Because she's not the partying type," he responded. "So I'm chilled."

Just then Jason finally came out of the bathroom tying his tie. The only thing different about him was that his hair wasn't slicked back like it usually was. It was actually falling into his face and he had to flick his head to get it out of the way so he could see. "What?" He asked when he noticed Cory and Newt staring at him. "Is it the tie? Does it not match? I thought I did pretty well this time," he muttered as he looked down.

"That's not it. It's your hair, what's wrong with it? It's not shiny," Newt responded.

"I didn't put gel in it, Rebel hates it," he replied. "Let's just go all ready." He picked up his CIA badge and led the boys out of the room. They took the elevator down to the floor where the party was held, only to walk out, turn a corner, and almost crash into someone.

"Oh, sorry," Cory apologized before his eyes narrowed. "Matt?" He growled. He then looked down. "Max and Sophie too? What're y'all doing here?" He questioned.

"Well, Sophie wanted to come because she wanted to see Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers, and Sophie can get into anything because she's 'America's Angel'," Matt responded.

"That's what they call me," Sophie said with a cheeky grin.

"And Max wanted to go with her and I couldn't let those two come by themselves," he replied. His eyes narrowed. "What're _you_ doing here? Last I checked you were supposed to be at _his_ place." He jerked his thumb in Newt's direction. Matt scanned them all before his eyes widened. "Don't tell me my sister is here."

"Ok," Newt said with a shrug as he began to walk past Matt but he shoved Newt back.

"I told you so," Max said in a singsong voice. "Let me guess, you're trying to win back your girls, right?" The boys nodded. "Whatever plan that you've come up with isn't going to work."

"Do you have any better ideas?" Cory questioned.

"I do, but it's going to cost you," Sophie said with an evil grin.

"Fine. I'll play any game you want whenever you want for the next two weeks," Cory said as he held out his hand. Sophie tapped her chin in thought while Matt sighed impatiently.

"Deal!" Sophie declared, shaking his hand. "For now, just go in there while we cause a distraction. You'll know when the timing is right to sweep your girls off their feet, got it?"

"Ok, but what time will that be?" Newt asked as he looked at his watch.

Sophie and Max exchanged a look as if asking each other _Is he serious?_ They shook their heads and led the group into the party scene. They were held up by the doorman but they were let in by being accompanied by 'America's Angel'.

"There's Rebel," Cory said as he nudged Jason. He scanned the area until his eyes rested on Rebel. She was dancing with Joe Jonas to Edwin McCain's _I'll Be_. He was about to walk in their direction when his eyes narrowed at the sight of her and Joe kissing. He slowly shook his head, as if he were a disappointed father. "Sorry man."

"Whatever," Jason mumbled before turning away and disappearing through the crowd.

"Hi! Do any of you want to dance?" Demi Lovato asked when _I'm So Paid_ started playing.

Newt's eyes shifted from her to Mack who was talking to Chad Dylan Cooper. "Sure," he said as he forced a smile and followed her onto the dance floor.

"They're asking for it," Matt sighed as he shook his head. "Wha–? Where'd they go?" He muttered as he looked around himself to find where Max and Sophie went. "Anyways, you at least better do this right, or else you're going to wind up feeling stupid," he told Cory before disappearing though the crowd.

"Too late," Cory muttered. He scanned the area for Meena and found her talking to Roshon Fegan by the drinks. He sucked in his breath before he walked across the room and tapped her on the shoulder. "Meena, you look great," he said as he smiled at her.

"Aww, thanks Cory," she said, also with a smile. "Cory, this is Roshon. Roshon, this is my good friend Cory," he introduced them.

"I was just telling her how I could get her a contract with a record company," Roshon told Cory. "Her voice is very unique yet very strong. It's something that the execs really want to hear."

"Really? 'Cause she's part of a band. It's called DC 3 and–" Cory started.

"Oh, I really like this song," Roshon commented when the song changed to a Cascada song. "Meena, would you like to dance?"

"Sure!" She replied excitedly, putting her drink down. Cory watched with an open mouth as Meena took his arm and followed him onto the dance floor.

"Baxter, why don't you just give up?" Jason questioned as he appeared next to Cory, as if coming out of nowhere. "You're not going to get her."

"What makes you say that?" Cory questioned in hostility.

"Because you've been chasing after her since you got here and she hasn't seen you as more than a friend. It's not going to happen, that's why I moved on," he responded.

"That's your problem, Jason. You have up too easily. I don't give up."

------

"Rebel." She turned around as Newt came towards her. She was standing by the drink bar, taking a break from trying to find Jason and dancing with Joe. Juggling two boys was harder than it looked. "Does Mack like that Cooper guy?" He questioned.

"Kinda yes, kinda no," Rebel replied as she looked over Newt's shoulder. "Right now, kinda yes." He turned around and stood stunned when Chad leaned forward and kissed Mack. "Back to kinda no," she confirmed when Mack slapped his cheek.

"I need a flat out answer. Yes or no?" Newt said as he grabbed Rebel's shoulders and shook her.

"Umm…" Rebel stalled as her eyes shifted back and forth. "No," she replied. She hated the sad puppy look on his face and wanted to cheer him up. She knew that Mack and Newt were meant for each other, even if Mack couldn't see that right now.

"Good," he sighed and smiled. "Thanks Dudette. Hey, want to dance? Demi Lovato said I was a good dancer and I want your opinion."

"Uh, maybe later Newt," Rebel said as Joe made his way towards her. "I need to talk to Joe." Newt nodded in understanding and went off. Joe was closing in on her when people started screaming and running around. "What the heck," she muttered, cursing herself when she lost Joe in the crowd. "Sophie? What're you doing here?" She shouted over the noise as Sophie and Max ran over to her.

"I'm America's Angel, don't be surprised where I can get in," she said with a shrug.

"What's going on?"

"Oh, I just made a little announcement to the girls that Shia LaBeouf was here and to the boys that Megan Fox was here," she responded. Rebel stared. "I was bored, I wanted to have some fun," she explained with a chuckle.

Rebel crossed her arms over her chest and was about to say something when Mack rushed over to her. "I just heard, I'm sorry," Mack told her.

"Heard what?" Rebel asked as her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Before Mack could reply Rebel's phone buzzed, signaling a text. She pulled out her phone and read it:

**Im br8in up w/ u**

**From: Jason**

"M brating up with you? What's that mean?" Rebel questioned, looking up at Mack, who shifted her gaze. "Mack?" She demanded in a steely tone.

"That's 'I'm breaking up with you'," Mack replied.

"What?"


	24. Won’t Trust, ‘Cause She Won’t Trust Me

_A/N: this chapter was loosely based of 3!0h!3's hit song "Don't Trust Me"

* * *

_

**Chapter 24:**** Won't Trust, 'Cause She Won't Trust Me**

"I'm sorry Rebel." Mack said solemnly as she saw her best friend's confused expression turn into a deep frown.

Rebel pursed her lips and kept staring at the text. She couldn't believe it.

Rebel looked back up and stared out into the dance floor before tossing her phone to the ground, which Mack soon picked up, and stormed off towards the left.

She stood behind a boy in a black shirt and tapped him on the shoulder. Joe Jonas turned around to face his so-called girlfriend. Rebel looked up at him, her dark eye makeup running down her face like paint.

"Oh man, babe, are you okay?" Joe asked, stepping towards her.

Rebel took her palm and placed it hard against his chest to block him from coming any further.

"Look, I just want you to know that you…you…I don't know, but it's over."

Joe's eyes widened, "What?"

"I'm in love with someone else and I didn't realize it until right now." she said, "I'm sorry, Joe, and thanks for everything."

Joe sighed, "Okay."

Rebel then began to sprint through the crowd and attempt to find Jason. She tapped on a guy's shoulder that looked a heck of a lot like Jason from behind but when he turned around, she realized it was Mitchel Musso. He looked at her makeup and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey." he said awkwardly.

"Hey…well this is embarrassing. Peace out, Smoakin' Oaken." Rebel flashed a peace sign and headed through the crowd with an eye roll.

She kept running until she found Cory sitting alone at a table.

"Cory!" she exclaimed.

Cory turned around to see the girl running towards him. "What happened to you?…Wait, never mind."

"Please don't hate me. I made a mistake. I've got to find Jason, now!"

"He went back up to the room after he texted you."

"Thanks." she ran out of the ballroom and into the main lobby, attracting stares from many of the other guests.

She got into the elevator and hit the button for tenth floor. When she finally reached the floor she got out and walked down the hallway.

"1010, 1011, 1012." she kept going until she reached 1015. She wiped her eyes and knocked on the door. Rebel heard some footsteps and then they stopped.

"Get out of here." Jason's voice said through the door.

"Jason, please, I'm sorry! I made a huge mistake! Let me in, please!" she began to cry again.

"What makes you think it's okay for you to cheat on me?" he exclaimed.

"I'm so sorry, Jase, come on!" she said.

"I don't think so."

"Please, give me one chance." she said.

"Back up." he said.

She took a few steps back as the door came open. They both stared at each other silently for a moment before Jason simply motioned for her to come inside. She followed him over to where the couch and TV was. Rebel glanced over to see what he was watching. It was a huge local news station talking about the Jonas Brothers party. He sat down on the couch and turned off the TV. He then put his head in his hands. Rebel walked over to the couch and sat down as far away from him as possible. She unhooked the straps of her heels and kicked them off angrily.

"I just don't get it Rebel." he said, not looking up, "What does he have that I obviously can't give you?"

"Nothing." Rebel responded.

"Then why did you do it?" he exclaimed.

"I don't know Jason. I'm sorry okay!" she replied.

"It didn't matter so much to me when we split up the first time. I figured, maybe, if you started seeing him than you'd come back to me because you realized that we were different," he said, "but obviously I was wrong."

"You shouldn't have thought like that Jason! You should have known it would be possible for me to fall in love with Joe if I went out with him! You should've done something!" she shouted.

"Why are trying to blame this on me? What's wrong with you lately anyway? All of a sudden, you seem not to care at all about me, you spend more time on the phone with Joe and I can't reach you, you spend more hang-out time with Newt, and I don't mean to sound rude, but you are way too skinny. It's like you turned Hollywood all of a sudden! I don't like Malibu Barbie Rebel. I like the Rebel that wouldn't touch whatever that is you're wearing. The one that sneaks around the White House. I like _my _Rebel, not whoever this is sitting in front of me." he said.

Rebel's crying got harder, "Did you ever think I felt this way when you were hanging all over Meena, Jase. I didn't like it at all!"

"Stop turning this around on me, Rebel. I didn't do anything."

"You kept watching Meena when you knew how I felt about you."

"Well you kept going out with Joe, obviously, after we got back together!"

"And I'm sorry Jason. I really am! It took me this long to realize it, but I love you. I really do. More than you know and more than you could know." She said.

"No you don't. You love Joe, or so you told him. Rebel, you know I can read lips and you still said it!" he snapped.

Rebel put her head in her hands, "I don't know what I have to do to prove that I love you, Jason."

"I just want you to go back to being yourself. I want you to stop going behind my back with Jonas. I just want this to stop." he said.

"I broke up with Joe, Jase." she said, "I didn't tell him why. I just said that I couldn't do this anymore."

"Rebel, I just don't know if I can do this anymore." Jason said, "I can't trust you."

"I'll do anything to get your trust back, Jase. What I said to Joe was a heat of the moment thing, not for real. I'm sorry." she said. Jason didn't say anything. He looked at Rebel and then back down at the floor. "Why won't you say anything or do anything." Rebel said, "You've just been sitting there and we've been going in circles for fifteen minutes now!"

"Because I don't know if I can do this anymore, Rebel." he hissed, slamming his hand down on the glass table in front of him, shaking it from the top down.

There was a moment of silence before there was a knock on the door. Jason got up and swung the door open to reveal a very distressed looked Newt.

"What happened, man?" Jason asked.

"We're over. There's no doubting it now." he said, walking into the room.

He looked over at Rebel and nodded solemnly at her, "Hey" he nearly whispered.

"Hey" she replied in the same tone.

Rebel watched as Newt, followed by Jason, walked into one of the bedrooms. She sat with her arms crossed over her stomach. Her perfect weekend was ruined, and she realized it was all her fault.

She slowly began to push the eyeliner back up her face and grab her heels. She put them on and headed over to the door to the room Jason and Newt went in. She knocked on the door.

"What is it?" Newt asked.

"If Jason's in there, in the bathroom, whatever, just pass along this message. Jase, I've tried and tried to pour my heart out to you. I've apologized and begged, but if you don't want me, there's nothing I can do. I'm leaving here with my dignity. I guess this is goodbye. When we land tomorrow morning, I'm going to turn in my C.I.A. stuff. You can take it back to your dad. It was cool while it lasted."

With that, she turned and walked out of the boys' room. She headed onto the elevator and began to travel down to the third floor, but on the sixth floor it stopped. Rebel looked up from her current gaze at the floor to see none other than Nick Jonas walking into the elevator. At his sight, Rebel's bottom lip began to shake. Nick glanced over, not recognizing her at first, and then looked forward and closer.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"You don't know?"

"Well, I got a text from Kevin saying some stuff blew up in the ballroom and that I needed to get down there. Would you be involved in that stuff?"

Rebel nodded. "Nick, I've been lying to your whole family and mine." she said, "While I was dating your brother, I was also dating Jason, the dark headed boy that came to the party tonight too. I'm so sorry."

Nick sighed, "Really?"

"Yeah." she replied, "Jason finally caught me tonight and broke up with me. It's not like I didn't expect it to happen it just hurts, 'cause it took me losing him to realize how much I cared about him and now I can't do anything about it."

"Wow." He said, "I don't know what to really say. Well, other than Joe really cared about you. He talked about you all the time. I know you don't want to hear that right now, but, it's true."

The elevator dinged signaling that they had reached third floor.

"This is me." She sighed, "Tell Joe I'm sorry, will you?"

"Sure thing. Keep in touch." he said giving a short wave.

"Promise." Rebel nodded as the door closed and Nick was out of sight. She walked to her room and shook the handle. "Damn." she sniffed. She had left her purse in Newt and Jason's room. "If another Jonas Brother shows up to return it, I might just throw myself off the balcony." she groaned, sitting down outside the door.

"Looking for something?"

Rebel looked up and saw Jason standing in front of her with her tiny zebra print bag in his clenched fist. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I heard what you said," he began, "back in the other room." Rebel didn't say a word. She just stared blankly at him. "Rebel, I really do love you." he said, walking across the hall and sitting against the wall across from her. She still didn't say anything. "I just want us to be able to be together with no problems." he said, "I want to know that you aren't going to cheat on me and that I'm not going to look like some sort of fool."

Rebel nodded, "Jase, ever since I was about twelve I dreamed of me and you growing up and being high school sweethearts, then getting married a few years out of school. I never thought it'd end up this way."

"When I kissed you a few months ago, I never thought it would boil down to this either. I never thought I'd be sitting in the floor of a hotel hallway trying to figure out why you cheated on me." he said.

"Don't you have the room key in my bag?" she asked. Jason pulled it out and walked over to the door, unlocking it. Rebel stood up and followed him into the room. They once again, walked over to where the couch was and sat down side by side. "So where do we go from here?" Rebel asked.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"I want to be with you, Jase." she replied.

"Same here, but I'm still…nervous." he said.

Rebel scooted closer and took his hand in hers, "Jason, I am so sorry. I don't want to keep going in all these circles."

Jason sighed and let go of her hand. Rebel's face fell deeply. She looked like she was going to cry. Instead of turning away, he pulled her into a tight embrace. She put her head on his shoulder and began crying again. "I love you Rebel, more than anyone ever could."

"I know that now, and I love you too." she replied. She gripped on to Jason tighter, with no immediate plans of letting him go.

"We're going to be okay." Jason repeated the phrase over and over to her, then kissed her on the head.

He rested his head against hers and took a deep breath, taking in the scent of her shampoo. For the first time in a while, he felt like everything was really going to be fine.


End file.
